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FOSTER'S COMPLETE 

HOYLE 

AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GAMES 



&etoteeb anb Cnlargeb to 
Jfebruarp, 1916 



INCLUDING ALL CARD GAMES PLAYED TO-DAY. WITH 
SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD PLAY, ILLUSTRATIVE HANDS 
AND 
ALL. OFFICIAL LAWS TO DATE 

R. F. FOSTER 

Author of "Auction Bridge For All" "Cooncan," 
and many other booh on card games 



ILLUSTRATED WITH NUMEROUS DIAGRAMS 
AND ENGRAVINGS 

EDITION PREPARED FOR 

W*t J^etn gork Ccmsoltbateb Carb Co, 



NEW YORK 
FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 



Copyright, 1916, by 
Frederick A. Stokes Company 

Copyright, 191 4, by 
Frederick A. Stokes Company 

Copyright, 1909, by 
Frederick A. Stokes Company 

Copyright, 1897, by 
Frederick A. Stokes Company 



12-43 
.P?7 



All Rights Reserved 



t 



6™ 



APR 17 1916 
©CI.A428512 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 
MILY 227 

•tch 232 

^ours 228 

v^tuiiornia Jack 232 

Cinch 236 

Commercial Pitch 232 

Dom Pedro 236 

Double Pedro 236 

High Five 236 

Old Sledge 228 

Pedro ;■■ 235 

Pedro Sancho 235 

Sell-out 232 

Seven-up 228 

Shasta Sam 232 

Smudge 235 

Snoozer 236 

American Laws of Bridge 30 

American Skat 316 

Auction Binocle 290 

Auction Bridge 1 

Cards Played in Error 7 

Declarer's Play 22 

Discarding 21 

Dummy 6 

Encouraging Discards 22 

Exposed Cards 7 

Fourth-hand Play 21 

Irregularities in Declaring 5 

Irregularities in the Deal 3 

Leading High Cards 14 

Leading Out of Turn. 7 

Making the Trump 3 

Nullo 23 

Scoring 23 

Suggestions for Bidding .... 23 

Suggestions for the Play 23 

Opening Leads 13 

Penalties 9 

Playing to the Score 21 

Rank of the Bids 4 

Revoke 6 

Scoring 8 

Second-hand Play 17 

Selecting the Suit to Lead 14 

Suggestions for Good Play 11 

Third-hand Play 19 

Auction Cinch 242 

Auction Euchre 182 



PAGE 

Auction Hearts 256 

Auction Pitch 232 

Baccara 386 

Baccara Chemin de Fer 391 

Banking Games 381 

Bezique Family 262 

Bezique 263 

Chinese Bezique 277 

Chouette Bezique 277 

Rubicon Bezique 269 

Bid Euchre 190 

Bierspiel 222 

Binochle. 278 

Melds 281 

Auction Binochle 290 

Gaigel 289 

Three-handed 288 

Four-handed 290 

Black Jack or Lady 258 

Blind All Fours 228 

Blind Cinch 242 

Blind Euchre 181 

Bluff, poker 158 

Boodle 374 

Boston 91 

Russian Boston 97 

Brag, poker 164 

Bridge 1 

Bridge Laws 30 

Bridge, Varieties of 24 

Auction Bridge 1 

Bridge for Three 25 

Bridge for Two 25 

Double Dummy Bridge 28 

Draw Bridge .' 29 

Duplicate Auction 24 

Duplicate Bridge 27 

King's Bridge 29 

Misery Bridge 26 

Pivot Bridge 26 

Progressive Bridge 27 

Reversi Bridge 29 

Short Bridge 29 

Six-hand Bridge 28 

Three-hand Auction 24 

California Jack 232 



.F 

Copyright, 1916, by 
Frederick A. Stokes Company 

Copyright, 191 4, by 
Frederick A. Stokes Company 

Copyright, 1909, by 
Frederick A. Stokes Company 

Copyright, 1897, by 
Frederick A. Stokes Company 



All Rights Reserved 



w* 



APR 17 1916 
)CU428512 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

all Fours Family 227 

Auction Pitch 232 

Blind All Fours 228 

California Jack 232 

Cinch 236 

Commercial Pitch 232 

Dom Pedro 236 

Double Pedro 236 

High Five 236 

Old Sledge. . 228 

Pedro 235 

Pedro Sancho 235 

Sell-out 232 

Seven-up 228 

Shasta Sam 232 

Smudge 235 

Snoozer 236 

American Laws of Bridge 30 

American Skat 316 

Auction Binocle 290 

Auction Bridge 1 

Cards Played in Error 7 

Declarer's Play 6 22 

Discarding 21 

Dummy 6 

Encouraging Discards 22 

Exposed Cards 7 

Fourth-hand Play 21 

Irregularities in Declaring. . . ■. 5 

Irregularities in the Deal 3 

Leading High Cards 14 

Leading Out of Turn. 7 

Making the Trump 3 

Nullo 23 

Scoring 23 

Suggestions for Bidding .... 23 

Suggestions for the Play 23 

Opening Leads 13 

Penalties 9 

Playing to the Score 21 

Rank of the Bids 4 

Revoke 6 

Scoring 8 

Second-hand Play 17 

Selecting the Suit to Lead 14 

Suggestions for Good Play 11 

Third-hand Play 19 

Auction Cinch 242 

Auction Euchre 182 



PAGE 

Auction Hearts 256 

Auction Pitch 232 

Baccara 386 

Baccara Chemin de Fer 391 

Banking Games 381 

Bezique Family 262 

Bezique 263 

Chinese Bezique 277 

Chouette Bezique 277 

Rubicon Bezique 269 

Bid Euchre 190 

Bierspiel 222 

Binochle. 278 

Melds 281 

Auction Binochle 290 

Gaigel 289 

Three-handed 288 

Four-handed 290 

Black Jack or Lady 258 

Blind All Fours 228 

Blind Cinch 242 

Blind Euchre 181 

Bluff, poker 158 

Boodle 374 

Boston 91 

Russian Boston 97 

Brag, poker 164 

Bridge 1 

Bridge Laws 30 

Bridge, Varieties of 24 

Auction Bridge 1 

Bridge for Three 25 

Bridge for Two 25 

Double Dummy Bridge 28 

Draw Bridge 29 

Duplicate Auction 24 

Duplicate Bridge 27 

King's Bridge 29 

Misery Bridge 26 

Pivot Bridge 26 

Progressive Bridge 27 

Reversi Bridge 29 

Short Bridge 29 

Six-hand Bridge 28 

Three-hand Auction 24 

California Jack 232 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Call-ace Euchre 190 

Cartomancie 378 

Cassino 355 

Spade Cassino 362 

21 Point Cassino 361 

Royal Cassino 362 

Draw Cassino . 362 

Cayenne i 71 

Chemin de fer i . . 391 

Chinese Bezique 277 

Chinese Fan Tan 393 

Chinese Whist 98 

Chouette Bezique 277 

Chuck Luck 404 

Cinch 236 

Auction Cinch 242 

Blind Cinch 242 

Progressive Cinch 242 

Sixty-three 242 

: Widow Cinch I 243 

Illustrative Hands 244 

Cinch Laws 246 

Razzle-Dazzle 242 

Commercial Pitch 232 

Conquian 363 

Cribbage .. ,. 324 

Five-card Cribbage 342 

Six-card Cribbage 324 

Seven-card Cribbage 344 

Three-hand Cribbage 343 

Four-hand Cribbage . 343 

Cut-throat Euchre 180 

Dice Games: — 

Chuck-Luck 404 

Sweat 404 

Discard Hearts . , 258 

Division Loo 222 

Domino Hearts 259 

Dom Pedro. . 236 

Double Dummy Bridge. 28 

Double Dummy Whist 63 

Double Pedro 236 

Draw Bridge 29 

Draw Cassino 362 

Draw Poker 122 

Dummy 60 

Duplicate Bridge 27 

Duplicate Whist 51 

Dutch Bank 392 

Ecabte. 196 

Jeude regie 202 

Pool Ecarte 209 

English Whist Laws 110 

Euchre Family of Games . 166 

Euchre 167 

Auction Euchre 1S2 

Bid Euchre, or 500 ...190 

Blind Euchre 181 

Call-ace Euchre 190 

Cut-Throat 180 

Five-handed 189 



PAGE 

t Euchre Continued. 

French Euchre 182 

Jambone 186 

Jamboree 186 

Laps 186' 

Laws of Euchre 191 

Military Euchre 184 

Penalty Euchr? 182 

Progressive Euchre 183 

Railroad Euchre 185 

Set-Back Euchre 181 

Seven-handed Euchre 187 

Slams. 186 

Pan Tan 393 

Fan Tan with Cards 374 

Farmer, or Ferme 38^ 

Faro 394 

Favourite Whist 50 

Five-card Cribbage 342 

Five-card Loo 226 

Five-handed Euchre 189 

Five Hundred 190 

Five and Ten 219 

Flat Poker ' 143 

Fortune Telling 378 

Forty-five -. 219 

Four-handed Cribbage 343 

Bezique 2^9 

' " " Binocle 290 

Sixty-six, 296 

Freeze-out, poker 142 

French Dummy 66 

French Euchre 182 

French Games: — 

Baccara 386 

Ferme 385 

Humbug Whist 64 

Macao 385 

Mort . 66 

Rouge et Noir 399 

Roulette 401 

Trente et Quarante. 399 

Vingt-et-un 382 

Frog 323 

Gaigel 405 

German Games: — ■ 

Binocle 278 

Kreutz Mariage 296 

Sixty-six 291 

Skat 297 

Solo 372 

Hearts: — 251 

Auction Hearts .-. 256 

Black Jack 258 

Black Lady 258 

Discard Hearts 258 

Domino Hearts 259 

Heartsette 259 

Howell's Hearts 254 

Illustrative Hands 244 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Hearts Continued 

Joker Hearts 257 

Progressive Hearts 258 

Spot Hearts. 257 

Sweepstake Hearts 254 

Three-handed Hearts 256 

. Two-handed 256 

Heart Solo 372 

Heartsette 2o9 

High Five 236 

High-low-jack 228 

Howell's Hearts 254 

Humbug Whist 64 

Irish Loo 226 

Jack Pots, poker 137 

Jambone, euchre 186 

Jamboree, euchre 186 

Jeu de Regie, ecarte 202 

Jink Game, spoil five 218 

Joker Hearts 257 

King's Bridge 29 

Klondike 377 

Kreutz Mariage 296 

Laps, euchre 186 

Laws, Official Codes for: — 

Bridge 30 

Cinch 246 

Euchre 191 

Poker 152 

Skat 317 

Whist, American 100 

Whist, Duplicate 51 

Whist, English 110 

Loo, or Division Loo 222 

Five-card Loo 226 

Irish Loo 226 

Lotto... 404 

Macao 385 

Military Euchre 184 

Misery Bridge 26 

Mistigris, poker 130 

Monte Bank 406 

Mort 66 

Napoleon 210 

National Games: — 

America, Cassino 355 

England, Cribbage 324 

Germany, Skat 297 

France, Piquet 345 

Mexico, Conquian 363 

Newmarket 374 

Odd Games 371 

Cid Sledge 22S 



PAGE 

Patience Games 375 

Pedro 235 

Peep Nap 215 

Penalty Euchre 132 

Pinochle 278 

Piquet 345 

Pitch 228 

Pivot Bridge . 26 

Poker Family of Games 121 

Poker 121 

Bluff 159 

Bluffing 151 

Cheating 143 

Draw Poker 122 

Eccentric Hands 129 

Flat Poker 143 

Freeze Out . . 142 

Going In 146 

Good Play 145 

How to Win 150 

Jack Pots 137 

Joker Poker ! . 130 

Mistigris. . . 130 

Odds against Hands 130 

Poker Laws 152 

Probabilities 131, 147 

Progressive Poker 162 

Rank of Hands 127 

Schnautz 162 

Show-down Poker 143 

Straight Poker 159 

Stud Poker 160 

Table Stakes. . . . 141 

Thirty-one 162 

Whiskey Poker 161 

Polish Bezique 169 

Pool Ecarte 209 

Preference 370 

Progressive Bridge 27 

Progressive Cinch 242 

Progressive Euchre 183 

Progressive Hearts 258 

Progressive Poker 162 

Progressive Whist . 52 

Purchase Nap . , . . 214 

Quinze 386 

Railroad Euchre 185 

Rams 220 

Razzle-Dazzle 242 

Reversi Bridge . 29 

Rondeau 405 

Rouge et Noir ; . . . 399 

Roulette 401 

Rounce. . : 222 

Royal Casino 362 

Rubicon Bezique 269 

Russian Boston 97 

Sancho Pedro 235 

Saratoga 374 

Scat, see Skat 297 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Schnautz . ..;.... 162 

SellOut ...: 232 

Set-back Euchre 181 

Seven-handed Euchre 187 

Seven-card Cribbage 344 

Seven-up . . ... 228 

Shasta Sam 232 

Short Bridge 29 

Show-down Poker 143 

Six-card Cribbage 324 

Six-hand Bridge. 28 

Sixty-four Card Binocle 263 

Sixty-three, cinch 242 

Sixty-six 291 

Four-handed 296 

Kreutz Mariage 296 

Three-handed 296 

Skat 297,316 

Game Values 303 

Scoring 309 

Illustrative Hands 314 

Skat Laws. 317 

Slams, euchre 186 

Smudge 235 

Snoozer 235 

Solitaires 375 

Solo 372 

Three-handed Solo 373 

Solo Whist 77 

Spade Cassino 362 

Spanish Monte 406 

Spin 374 

Spoil Five 215 

Spot Hearts 257 

Stops 374 

Straight Poker 159 

Stud Poker 160 

Sweat, dice 404 

Sweepstake Hearts 254 

Table Stakes, poker 141 

Telling Fortunes 378 

Three-card Monte. 406 

Three-handed Auction 24 

Bezique 269 

Bridge 25 

Cribbage... 343 

Hearts 256 



Three-handed [Binocle P 288 

" Sixty-six ' OQfi 

Trente et Quarante. ... " ' * oqq 

Thirty-one , poker jgo 

Twenty-one Point Casino. '.'.'."" 361 

Two-handed Bridge. . " o = 

Two-handed Hearts. ..'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'..'. 256 

Varieties of Bridge 24 

Vingt-et-un. .^.. . .^_. 382 

vint ;..:..: '.'.'.'.'.v.'. 367 

Whiskey Poker '.. .. , 161 

Whist ." 44. 

American Laws . . 100 

Auction Bridge l 

Bridge i 

Cayenne Whist 71 

Chinese Whist 98 

Double Dummy 63 

Dummy 60 

Dummy Laws 120 

Duplicate Whist 51 

English Laws HO 

Favourite Whist .50 

German Whist 97 

Humbug Whist 64 

Mort 66 

Progressive Whist 52 

Solo Whist 77 

Text Books 50 

Thirteen and the Odd 65 

Whist Family Laws 100 

Whist Tactics: — 

American Laws 100 

General Directions 44 

Method of Playing 45 

Scoring 48 

Stacking Tricks 47 

Works on Whist 50 

Widow Binocle .'.".' 291 

Widow Cinch 243 

Yerlash, see Vint 367 



FOSTER'S COMPLETE HOYLE 



BRIDGE, 



There are two principal varieties of this game ; straight bridge, 
in which the dealer or his partner must make the trump, their 
opponents having nothing to say about it except to double the 
value of the tricks. The dealer's partner is always the dummy, 
and either side may score toward game by making the odd trick 
or more. Auction bridge, in which the privilege of making the 
trump is bid for, the highest bidder playing the hand with his 
partner as dummy, regardless of the position of the deal, and 
his side being the only one that can score toward game, the 
adversaries scoring nothing but penalties in the honour column 
if they defeat the contract. 

# As this is the more popular form of bridge at the present 
time, it will be given first. Since the adoption of the higher 
value for the spade suit under the name of royal spades, and 
the cnange in the value of the suits, the game gradually came to 
be known as royal auction, but as that change is now universal, 
the name has slipped back to its original title. 



AUCTION BRIDGE. 

OR AUCTION. 

CAUDS. Auction is played with a full pack of fifty-two 
cards, ranking A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2, the Ace being the 
highest in play, but ranking below the deuce in cutting. Two 
packs should be used, the one being shuffled while the other is 
dealt. 



2 (Bridge.) 



POSITION OF PLAYERS. 



MARKERS suitable for scoring the various points made at 
Bridge have not yet been invented. Some persons use the bezique 
marker; but it is not a success. The score is usually kept on a 
sheet of paper, and it should be put down by each side, for pur- 
poses of verification. 

PLAYERS. Auction is played by four persons, and the table 
is complete with that number. When there are more than four 
candidates for play, the selection of the four is made by cutting. 
These cut again for partners, and the choice of seats and cards. 

CUTTING, The usual method of cutting for partners, etc., 
at auction, is to shuffle the cards thoroughly, and "spread" them 
face downwards on the table ; each candidate drawing a card, and 
turning it face upwards in front of him. The four cutting the 
lowest cards playing the first game, or rubber. 




rmrv^ 



SPREADING THE PACK. 



The four having been selected, the cards are again shuffled and 
spread, and partners are cut for ; the two lowest pairing against 
the two highest ; the lowest of the four is the dealer, and has the 
choice of cards and seats. 

pTIES. As between cards of equal value in cutting, the spade 
is the lowest, then hearts, diamonds next, and then clubs. 

POSITION OF THE PLATERS. The four players at 

the bridge table are indicated by letters ; A and B are partners 
against Y and Z ; Z always represents the dealer, who always 
makes the first bid, A being the second bidder, Y the third and B 
the fourth. 




MAKING TEE TRUMP. (Bridge) 3 

DEALING, The cards having been properly shuffled the 
dealer, Z, presents them to the pone, B, to be cut. At least four 
cards must be left in each packet. Beginning at his left, the dealer 
distributes the cards one at a time in rotation until the pack is 
exhausted. When two packs are used, the dealer's partner shuf- 
fles one while the other is dealt, and the deal passes in regular 
rotation to the left until the rubber is finished. If no one makes 
a bid the deal passes to the next player. 

IBMEG ULARITIES IN THE DEAL. If any card is 
found faced in the pack, or if the pack is incorrect or imperfect, 
the dealer must deal again. If any card is found faced in the 
pack, or is exposed in any manner ; or if more than thirteen cards 
are dealt to any player, or if the last card does not come in its 
regular order to the dealer, or if the pack has not been cut, there 
must be a new deal. Attention must be called to a deal out of 
turn, or with the wrong cards, before the last card is dealt, or 
the deal stands. 

There are no misdeals in auction. That is to say, whatever 
happens the same dealer deals again. Minor irregularities will be 
found provided for in the laws. 

The cards being dealt, each player sorts his hand to see that he 
has the correct number, thirteen; and the player or players keep- 
ing the score should announce it at the beginning of each hand. 
i There is a penalty of 25 points in honours for every card lifted 
and looked at before the deal is complete. 

STAKES. In auction, the stake is a unit, so much a point. 
The number of points won or lost on the rubber may be only two 
or three, or they may run into the hundreds. The average value 
of a rubber at auction is about 400 points. Any much larger 
figure shows bad bidding. In straight bridge the average is 
about 180. In settling at the end of the rubber, it is usual for 
each losing player to pay his right-hand adversary. 

MAKING THE THUMP. In auction, the dealer begins 
by naming any one of the four suits, or no trumps, for any num- 
ber of tricks he pleases. Each player in turn to the left then has 
the privilege of passing, bidding higher, or doubling. When three 
players pass a bid, it is the highest made and is known as the 
Winning Declaration or Contract. 

In order to understand the principles that govern the players 
in their declarations, one should be thoroughly familiar with the 
values attached to the tricks when certain suits are trumps. The 
first six tricks taken by the side that has made the winning 
declaration do not count. This is the "book," but all over the 
book count toward making good on the contract, according to 
the following table: 



4 (Bridge.) RANK OF BIDS. 



When 


Clubs 
Diamonds 
Hearts 
Spades 
there are 


are 

« 
no 


trumps, 
trumps, 


each 


trick 


counts 


6 
7 
8 
9 

10 


poir 



These values are used only in the bidding and in scoring suc- 
cessful play. If the contract fails, every trick by which it fails 
is worth 50 in honours to the adversaries. 

The game is 30 points, which must be made by tricks alone, 30 
that three over the book, called three "by cards," will go gan)ie 
from love at no trump, or four by cards at hearts or spades. 
These are called the Major or Winning Suits. As it takes 
five by cards to go game in clubs or diamonds, and on account 
of the difficulty of such an undertaking, these are called the 
Minor or Losing Suits* 



HANK OF THE BIDS. In order to overcall a pre- 
vious bid, whether of the partner or the opponent, the biddeb 
must undertake to win the same number of tricks in a suit of 
higher value, or a greater number of tricks in a suit of lower 
rank, such as 4 clubs over 3 spades. Players should restrict 
themselves to the same form of expression throughout, and alt 
bids, even passing, must be made orally and not by gesture. 

Let us suppose this to be the bidding: The dealer, Z, begins 
with "No bid," second player, A, says, "I pass," or simply 
"No." Third bidder, Y, says, "One club," fourth player, B, 
"One spade." The dealer, starting on the second round, says, 
"Two clubs," supporting his partner's declaration. Next player, 
A, who passed the first time, says, "Two spades." Both Y and 
B pass, but the dealer, Z, says, "Three clubs." 

Suppose A doubles three clubs. Y passes and B says, "Three- 
no trumps." As will be explained presently, doubling does not 
affect the value of the declaration in bidding, so three no trumps 
overcalls three clubs doubled. Z, A and Y all pass, so three 
no trumps becomes the winning declaration and B is the de- 
clarer, A being the dummy, with Z to lead for the first trick. 

In this example, had the bid been left at three clubs, doubled 
or not, that would have been the winning declaration, and the 
partner who first named that suit, Y, would be the declarer, Z 
being the dummy, although Z actually made the highest bid. It 
is only when the two players that have both named the winning 
suit are not partners that the higher bidder becomes the declarer. 



IRREGULARITIES. (Bridge.) 5 

DOUBLING. No player may double his partner, but he 
may redouble an opponent who has doubled. All doubling must 
ie strictly in turn, like any other bid. Doubling does not affect 
tie value of the bids, but simply doubles the value of the tricks 
o- penalties when they are scored at the end of the hand. Sup- 
pose A bids two spades and Y doubles. B can take A out with 
three clubs, because, so far as the bidding goes, two spades are 
stll worth only 18. 

Any overcall annuls the double, or redouble. Suppose A says 
tvo hearts, Y doubles, B redoubles, and Z says two spades. The 
doubling is all knocked out, and if A were to go three hearts 
ard get the contract, hearts would be worth only 8 a trick in the 
soring unless Y doubled all over again. A double reopens the 
bilding, just the same as any other declaration, allowing the 
plyer's partner, or the player himself in his turn, to take him- 
sef out of the double by bidding something else. 

IBBEGULABITIES IN DECLABING. If any 

payer declares out of turn, either in bidding a suit or in doubling, 
ether opponent may demand a new deal, or may allow the decla- 
ration so made to stand, in which case the next player to the 
1ft must bid, or he may ignore the bid and declare it void. If a 
layer pass out of turn there is no penalty, and the player 
vhose turn it was must declare himself. The player who 
las passed out of his proper turn may reenter the bidding if the 
declaration he passed has been overcalled or doubled. 

If a player makes a declaration that is not enough to overcall 
the last bid, either adversary may call attention to it. Suppose 
the last bid is three hearts, and the next player says three 
clubs. This is not enough. Unless the player in error correct 
himself at once, and make it four clubs, either adversary may 
demand that it be four clubs, and the partner of the corrected 
player cannot bid unless this four-club bid is overcalled or 
doubled. A player correcting himself must stick to the suit 
named, not being allowed to say three spades when he sees that 
three clubs is not enough. 

If an insufficient declaration is passed or overcalled by the 
player on the left, it is too late to demand any penalty, and the 
insufficient bid stands as regular. Suppose A bids four hearts 
and Y says four clubs, B and Z passing. A can repeat his bid 
of four hearts if he likes, as that is enough to overcall four 
clubs. 

A player is always allowed to correct an erroneous bid with- 
out penalty, provided he does so before the next player acts, 
and he may correct it in either of two ways. If he made a 
slip of the tongue and named the wrong suit, he may change it. 
If he has named the right suit, but not enough tricks, he may 



6 (Bridge.) DUMMY. 

bid more tricks, but he cannot reduce the number of tricks if he 
has inadvertently bid too many. 

METHOD OF PLATING. The winning declaration 
settled, whether doubled or not, the player on the left of the de- 
clarer leads for the first trick, and dummy's cards go down, thi 
declarer playing the combined hands. The declarer gathers tte 
tricks for his side, but either adversary may gather for the othe'. 
The first six tricks taken by the declarer make a book, and ail 
over the book count toward his contract. The adversaries havi 
a book when the number of tricks they have taken in is tie 
difference between the number of tricks bid and seven. If tie 
contract is 4, their book is 3, and all over that book are worn 
50 apiece in honours. All tricks should be laid so that th< 
may be readily counted by any player at the table. 

There is a penalty of 25 points in honours for looking at 
trick once turned down. 

DUMMY, Until a card is led by the proper player, the de- 
clarer's partner has all the rights of any other player, but as sooi 
as the player to the left of the declarer leads and dummy's card 
are laid on the table, dummy's duties and rights are restricted 
to the following: 

He may call attention to too few cards played to a trick; cor> 
rect an improper claim of either adversary ; call attention to a 
trick taken by the wrong side; ask his partner if he have none of 
a suit to which he renounces; correct an erroneous score; consult 
with the declarer as to which penalty to exact for a revoke; 
and, if he has not intentionally overlooked the hand of another 
player, he may call his partner's attention to an established 
revoke made by the adversaries, or to a card exposed by them 
or a lead out of turn made by them. 

The Mevoke, Should a player fail to follow suit when able 
•to do so, it is a revoke, and the revoke is established when the 
trick in which it occurs is turned down and quitted by the side 
that won it, or when the revoking player, or his partner, in his 
right turn or otherwise, has led or played to the following 
trick. If a player ask his partner if he has none of the suit led, 
before the trick is turned down, the revoke may be corrected, 
unless the player in error replies in the negative, or has led or 
played to the next trick. 

Dummy cannot -evoke under any circumstances. 

The penalty for the revoke depends on the side in error. 
If the declarer revokes he cannot score anything but honours as 
actually held, while the adversaries take 100 points penalty in the 
honour column, in addition to any they may be entitled to for de- 
feating the declaration. If an adversary revokes, they score 
honours only, and the declarer may either take the 100 points, or 



OBJECT OF TEE GAME. (Bridge,) 7 

he may take three actual tricks and add them to his own. If 
he takes the tricks, they may aid him in fulfilling his contract, as 
the score is then made up as the tricks lie, but the declarer will 
not be entitled to any bonus in case he was doubled. 

Suppose Z is the declarer, and is playing three hearts doubled. 
He wins the odd trick only, but detects a revoke, for which he 
takes three tricks. This gives him four by cards, doubled, worth 
64 points toward game, but he does not get any bonus for making 
his contract after being doubled, or for the extra tricks, be- 
cause they were taken in penalty and not in play. 

Exposed Cards, After the deal but before the winning 
declaration is settled, if any player exposes a card his partner 
is barred from bidding or doubling, and the card is subject to 
call. Should the partner of the offending player prove to be the 
leader to the first trick, the declarer may prohibit the initial lead 
of the exposed suit. 

All cards exposed by the declarer's adversaries after the orig- 
inal lead are liable to be called and must be left on the table, 
face upward. Exposed cards are those played two at a time, 
dropped on the table face up, or so held that the partner might 
see them, or cards mentioned as being in the hand of the player 
or his partner. The declarer is not liable to any penalty for 
exposed cards. 

Leading Out of Turn, If either adversary leads out of 
turn, the declarer may call the card exposed, or call a suit when 
it is the turn of either adversary to lead. If the declarer leads out 
of turn, from his own hand or dummy's, there is no penalty, but 
he may not correct the error unless directed to do so by an ad- 
versary. If the second hand plays to the false lead, it must stand. 
If the declarer plays from his own hand or from dummy to a 
false lead, the trick stands. In case the dealer calls a suit and 
the player has none, the penalty is paid. 

Cards Played in Error, If any player but dummy 
omits to play to a trick, and does not correct the error until he 
has played to the next trick, the other side may claim a new deal. 
If the deal stands, the surplus card at the end is supposed to 
belong to the short trick, but is not a revoke. 

OBJECT OF THE GAME, The object in auction is 
for the declarer to fulfil his contract, and for the adversaries to 
defeat it. The highest card played to the trick, if of the suit led, 
wins the trick, and trumps win all other suits. At the end of the 
hand the declarer counts up the tricks he has won over the book 



8 (Bridge*) 



SCORING. 



and if he has made good on his contract he scores the value of 
those tricks toward game. As soon as either side reaches 30, it is 
a game, but the hands are played out, and all the tricks counted. 

MUBBEMS. Three games, 30 points or more each, make 
a rubber, but if the first two are won by the same partners the 
third game is not played. The side that first wins two games adds 
250 rubber points to its score. 

SCORING. Apart from the game score, which is made 
entirely by tricks won on successful declarations, there are 
several additional scores that have no influence in winning or 
losing the game, although they may materially affect the ultimate 
value of the rubber. These are all entered under the head of 
"honour scores," or "above the line." 

Honours are the five highest cards in the trump suit, A K Q J 
10 ; when there is no trump, they are the four Aces. The partners 
holding three, four or five honours between them, or four honours 
in one hand, or four in one hand and the fifth in the partner's, 
Or all five in one hand, are entitled to claim and score them, 
according to the following table. It will be seen that their value 
varies according to the trump suit; and it must be remembered 
that this value cannot be increased by doubling. 

TABLE OF ETONOUB VALUES. 



Declaration 


* 





V 


♦ 


No 

trump 


Each Trick Above 6 


6 


7 


8 


9 


10 




f 3 Honours 


12 
24 
48 
30 
54 
60 


14 
28 
56 
35 
63 
70 


16 
32 
64 
40 
72 
80 


18 
36 
72 
45 
81 
90 


30 

40 


O i 


4 Honours (All in 1 hand) 


100 


O 


5 Honours (4 in 1 hand) . . 
. S Honours (All in 1 hand) 





Rubber 250, Grand Slam 100, Little Slam 50. 

When one side has nothing but the odd honour, three out of the 
five, it is called simple honours. The value of simple hon- 
ours is always the same as two tricks. 

Slams. Little Slam is made by taking twelve of the thirteen 
tricks; it counts 50 points. Grand Slam is made by taking the 



KEEPING SCORE. (Bridge.) 9 

thirteen tricks, and it counts ioo. Either score must be exclusive 
of revoke penalties. 

PENALTIES. If the declarer succeeds in making his con- 
tract, he scores below the line for tricks and above the line for 
honours according to the table of values already given, and he 
scores for as many tricks as he wins, regardless of the smaMer 
number he may have bid. 

But if the declarer fails to make good on his contract he 
scores nothing but honours as actually held, while his adversaries 
score 50 points penalty in the honour column for every trick by 
which the declaration falls short, no matter what the declaration 
was, but they never score anything toward game, no matter 
how many tricks they win, because they are not the declarers. 
They may, however, score slams. 

If we suppose the winning declaration to be three hearts, and 
the declarer makes the odd trick only, holding simple honours, he 
scores 16 above the line, while the other side scores 100 points 
above the line for defeating the contract by two tricks, worth 
50 each. . 

If a winning declaration is doubled and fails, the adversaries 
Score ioo points, instead of 50, for every trick by which they 
defeat the contract. If it is redoubled, they score 200. But if 
the declarer succeeds after being doubled, he not only scores 
double value for the tricks toward game, but he gets 50 points 
for fulfilling a doubled contract and 50 more for any tricks 
over his contract if he makes them. These figures are ioo in 
each case if he redoubles. 

Suppose the declaration is three no trumps, doubled, and the 
declarer makes five by cards. He scores 5 times 20 toward game, 
aces as held, and then 150 in penalties, 50 of which is for 
fulfilling his contract and twice 50 for the two tricks over his 
contract. 

The adversaries cannot score any penalties for the declarer's 
failure to fulfil his contract if they have revoked, even if the 
three tricks he may take as revoke penalty are not enough to 
make good his bid. In such a case, the declarer would take 100 
points, and each side score honours as actually held. 

KEEPING SCORE. Two styles of score-pad are now in 
general use. In one the tricks and honours are entered in the 
same vertical column, one above the other, and are all added in 
one sum at the end. In the other style of pad the tricks are in 
one column and the honours and penalties in another, so that four 
additions are required to find the value of the rubber, which is 
always the difference between the total scores after giving the 



10 (Bridge.) 



CHEATING. 



winners of two games 250 points. 
will show both styles of pad: 



The following illustration 



WE 1 


THEY 




36 




30 


18 


100 


16 1 




8 






40 



WE 



THEY 



36 



1 


250 


42 


492 
42 




450 



8 


16 
18 




40 


100 
30 






11 


36 


36' 


8 


34 
8 


| 


76 


166 

76 

250 




42 




492 
42 




450 



The scoring on which this rubber is won and lost was as 
follows : WE started with a contract to win one heart and made 
it, with simple honours, scoring 8 toward game and 16 above 
for honours. Then THEY set a contract for two tricks, getting 
100 in penalties, against simple honours in spades, scored as 18 
above for WE and 100 for THEY. Then THEY made four 
odd at no trump and 30 aces, winning the first game, under which 
a line is drawn. 

On the next deal THEY made four odd in spades, with four 
honours, 36 each way, winning the second game and also the 
rubber, for which they add 250 points. Both scores are now added 
up and the lower deducted from the higher, showing that THEY 
win 450 points on the balance. 

CUTTING OUT. At the conclusion of the rubber, if 
there are more than four candidates for play, the selection of 
the new table is made by cutting; thise who have just played 
having an equal chance with the new-comers. The reason for 
this is that a Bridge table is complete with four, and that a rub- 
ber is usually too long, with its preliminaries of making the trump, 
and its finalities of settling the score, for players to wait their 
turn. A rubber at Short Whist is often over in two hands ; but a 
carefully played rubber at Bridge sometimes occupies an hour. 

CHEATING. Most of the cheating done at the bridge 
table is of such a character that it Cannot be challenged without 
difficulty, although there is enough of it to be most annoying. 



GOOD PLAY. (Bridge.) 11 

Some players will place an ace about four cards from the top 
when they shuffle the cards, so that when the pack is spread for 
the cut they can draw it and get the first deal. Second dealing is 
a common trick, especially on ocean steamers, marking the aces 
and slipping them back if they would fall to an adversary dealing 
them to the partner instead, who can go no trumps and score a 
hundred aces several times in an evening. Women are great 
offenders in trifling matters, such as asking the dealer if she 
passed it, when nothing has been said; looking over the adver- 
saries' hands as dummy, and then pushing dummy's cards for- 
ward, as if arranging them, but in reality indicating which one to • 
play. A great deal of petty cheating is done in putting down the 
score, and also in balancing it by cancellation. In large charity 
games, some women are so eager to win a prize that they will 
stoop to all manner of private signals, and some go so far as to 
make up a table and agree to double everything, so that some one 
of the four shall have a big score. Another common trick in so- 
called social games is to have a stool pigeon to overlook the hand 
of another and signal it up to the confederate who is playing. 

There may be some remedy for this sort of thing, but so far 
no one seems to have found it ; or at least they lack the courage 
to put it in practice and expose the offenders. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD PLAY. The great 
secret of success in auction lies in sound bidding, so that no bid 
shall have a double meaning and the partner may be able to rely 
absolutely on the information which the bid should convey. The 
complications of the situation are so numerous, owing to the var- 
iations introduced by each succeeding bid as the players overcall 
one another, that it would be impossible to cover them in a work 
of this kind, and the student would do well to consult some such 
work as "Auction Bridge for All," which covers every situa- 
tion that could possibly arise in the bidding. 

A few general hints may be of assistance in showing the 
principles that govern the more common situations. 

T7ie Dealer's Dids may be divided into three classes: 
minor suits, major suits, and no-trumpers. Passing without _ a 
bid on the first round does not necessarily imply that he will 
have nothing to say on the second round, as bids on the second 
round show length, without the sure tricks required for orig- 
inal bids. 

The dealer should never call any suit on the first round of 
bids unless he has two sure tricks in it, such as A K, or K Q J, 
or A Q J. If he has only one trick in the suit itself, he should 
have at least one sure and one probable in some other suit to 



12 (Bridge.) GOOD PLAY. 

fill up the holes. The A J 10 of clubs is not a club bid,* but the 
ace and queen of any other suit would justify it. "The bidder 
should have at least five cards in a major suit, or four with 
the three top honours, to justify him in declaring it, as his part- 
ner is likely to leave him to play it. 

It is not once in a year that one will be left to play a one 
club or one diamond bid, and these suits are never bid orig- 
inally with any idea of having them for the trump unless the 
bid is two or three instead Of one. The shorter such suits the 
better, as they are less likely to be trumped. Minor suit bids 
offer assistance to the partner; major suit bids ask the partner 
to assist them. 

The Second Hand should declare just as if he were the 
dealer when the dealer refuses to make a bid. He may even go 
no trump on a lighter hand. When the dealer bids a suit, 
second hand should overcall only when he can make his con- 
tract or wishes to indicate a lead in case third hand should go to 
no trumps. If the dealer bids no trump, second hand should 
pass, unless he is prepared to overcall any further bi-d for three 
tricks. 

Third Hand should be a trick or two stronger than he 
would have to be to declare as dealer on the first round. When 
the dealer bids no trump, third hand should take him out with 
any weak five card suit and nothing else, simply to warn him that 
there are no winning cards in the hand. Always take him out 
with five cards in a winning suit, no matter how strong the 
rest of the hand. 

Take the dealer out of one suit with another suit only to deny 
his suit. Take him out of a winning suit with no trump, only 
to deny his suit and show strength in each of the three other 
suits. If the dealer bids no trump and second hand calls a suit, 
double if you can stop the suit twice, otherwise show any good 
suit of your own, but do not go two no-trumps unless you 
can do it all yourself. Leave that to your partner. Do not 
assist your partner's suit bids with less than three tricks if sec- 
ond hand overcalls. 

If the third hand has a suit which is much stronger than any 
average declaration the dealer is likely to have made a bid upon, 
such as six spades to four honours, he should overcall his part- 
ner's bid. 

! 

Fourth Hand bids on the bidding much more than on his 
cards. He must be cautious when "no-bid" is passed up to him. 
If the dealer bids a losing suit, second and third hands passing, 
leave him in unless you can go game and are not afraid of a shift. 
If the dealer bids a winning suit, second and third hands passing, 
make any sound declaration. If the dealer starts with no trumps, 



OPENING LEADS. (Bridge.) 13 

show any suit that might save the game if led at once by your 
partner. 

Subsequent Bids. Any suit bid on the second round but not on 
the first, shows length without the tops. When a winning suit is 
taken out by the partner, a losing suit bid on the second round 
shows tops in it. Any suit rebid on the second round, without 
waiting for the partner's assistance, shows six or seven sure 
tricks in hand. 

Never bid a hand twice, unless its strength is greater than 
indicated by the first bid. Having bid a club on ace king alone, 
that is the end of it. If you have an outside ace, which the club 
bid did not show, you can assist your partner once on that 
trick, but no more. Having assisted your partner's suit bid with 
three tricks, do not bid again unless you have a fourth trick 
in hand, but if he rebids his suit without waiting for you, you may 
assist on one trick, especially a high honour in trumps. 

Do not double unless you have a certainty and are not afraid 
of a shift. Do not give up a fair chance for going game yourself 
just to double an adversary, unless you are sure of 200 in 
penalties at least, and do not give up the rubber game for less 
than 300. Always remember that a double may enable an adver- 
sary to go game, and will often show the declarer which hand 
to finesse against. 

Free Doubles are opportunities to double when the declarer 
will go game artyhow if he makes his contract, but they should 
never be made if there is any chance that he may shift. 

Free JBids are those which a player is not obliged to make 
then, such as the dealer's first. A Shout is a bid that is a 
trick more than necessary to overcall the previous bid. It shows a 
solid suit, or five or six sure tricks in hand. In a losing suit it is 
a loud call for the partner to go no trumps if he can. A free bid 
in a losing suit shows the high cards; in a winning suit it shows 
the tricks in hand. 

A Forced Did is one that is necessary to overcall, such as 
two diamonds over a heart. This does not mean that the 
caller would have bid two diamonds originally. A player who 
must indicate a lead against a no-trumper makes a forced bid. 

The Original Lead. The first card must be played before 
dummy's hand is exposed. 

OPENING LEADS. The position which we have first 
to consider is that of the eldest hand, usually designated by the 
letter "A," who sits on the declarer's left. 



14 (Bridge.) 



OPENING LEADS. 



Pone 



Dummy 




Declarer 



Leader 



Selecting the Suit to Lead. If your partner has de- 
clared a suit, lead the best card you hold of it, regardless of 
number, unless you have an ace-king suit of your own, in which 
case lead the king first and have a look at dummy. If partner has 
not declared anything, lead your own suit. With high cards not 
in sequence, such as ace-queen, king-jack, or even queen-ten, in 
every suit but trumps, lead the trump. 

There is a great difference between playing against a trump 
declaration and against no-trumpers ; because in the first case the 
leader is opposed to unusual trump strength and his object must 
be to make what he can of his winning cards, before the declarer 
gets into the lead and discards his weak suits, so as to be ready ' 
to trump them. But in the second case, there being no trumps, 
the leader's object should be to get a suit established against the 
dealer, if he can, and the longer the suit is, the better. The 
dealer's strength in a no-trumper is usually scattered, and he may 
often be found with a weak or missing suit, which is generally 
the suit in which the eldest hand or his partner is long. 

We shall first consider the leads against trump declarations, 
because they are more common and are also the more useful. If 
a player makes a trump-hand lead against a no-trump declaration, 
he will not do nearly so much harm as if he make a no-trump- 
hand lead against a trump declaration. For that reason, if a 
player cannot master both systems of leading, it is better for him 
to learn the leads against trumps than those against no-trumps. 



LEADING THROUGH DUMMY. (Bridge.) 15 

Suits which it is good policy to lead through are A x x x, K x x x, 
or any broken sequences of high cards. 

Suits in which Dummy is long, or holds any of the regular high- 
card combinations, should be avoided ; winning or high sequences 
being especially dangerous. To lead such suits through Dummy's 
strength is an invitation to partner to force you in the suit led. 

It is not necessary for you to be strong in a suit which you lead 
through Dummy ; and if you are both weak, is often advanta- 
geous; especially if it avoids leading one of his strong suits. 

With A Q 10 x ; Dummy having J x x x ; play the 10. If part- 
ner has the King you make every trick in the suit. 

With AQiox; Dummy having K x x ; play the Q. If Dummy 
passes, you make two tricks ; if he covers, you have tenace over 
the Jack. 

With A 109x5 Dummy having J x x x ; play the 10. If part- 
ner has the K, your A 9 is tenace over the Q. 

With A J 10 x; Dummy having Qxxx; if the suit must be 
led, play the Jack ; but such positions should be avoided, except in 
the end game, or when you play for every trick. 

With A J 10 x ; Dummy having no honour in the suit ; if you 
must lead the suit, play the 10. 

In trumps, with K Qxx; Dummy having A J x x ; play the 
Queen. If Dummy wins with A, play a small card for the second 
round, and he may refuse to put on the J. The declarer not having 
the 10, would make Dummy cover ; but nothing is lost if he does, 
and it marks the 10 with your partner. 

With King and others of a suit in which Dummy has not the 
Ace ; avoid leading the suit until the Ace has fallen. 

With King alone, play it if Dummy has the Ace; keep it if he 
has not. 

Trumps. If a player in this position is strong in trumps, he 
should keep quiet about it and let the maker of the trumps develop 
the suit. False-carding is perfectly legitimate in trumps, and will 
deceive the declarer more than your partner. 

End Games. There are cases in which it is necessary to play 
as if partner was known to possess a certain card, for unless he has 
it the game is lost. For instance : You want one trick, and have 
Q 10 x x, Dummy having K x x, of an unplayed suit. The Queen 
is the best play ; for if partner has any honour you must get a trick ; 
otherwise it is impossible. 

You have K x in one suit, a losing card in another, and a winning 
card. You want all four tricks to save the game. Play the King, 
and then the small card ; for if your partner has not the Ace and 
another winning card you must lose the game. 

You have a losing trump, and Q x x of a suit in which Dummy 
has K 10 x. If you want one trick, play the losing trump, counting 
on partner for an honour in the plain suit. If you must have two 
tricks, lead the Queen, trusting your partner to hold Ace. 



16 (Bridge,) LEADING TO DUMMY. 

Leading up to Dummy. The best thing for the third hand, 
or pone, to do, when he does not return his partner's suit, and has 
no very strong suit of his own, is to lead up to Dummy's weak 
suits, and to lead a card that Dummy cannot beat, if possible. 

The general principle of leading up to weakness suggests that 
we should know what weakness is. Dummy may be considered 
weak in suits of which he holds three or four small cards, none 
higher than an 8 ; Ace and one or two small cards ; or King and 
one or two small cards. In leading up to such suits, your object 
should be to give your partner a finesse, if possible ; and in cal- 
culating the probabilities of success it must be remembered that 
there are only two unknown hands, so that it is an equal chance 
that he holds either of two unknown cards. It is 3 to r against 
his holding both, or against his holding neither. Of three un- 
known cards, it is 7 to 1 against his holding all three, or none 
of them ; or about an equal chance that he holds two of the 
three ; or one only. 

If Dummy holds any of the weak suits just given, you holding 
nothing higher than the Ten, you should lead it. Suppose you have 
1096; Dummy having A 3 2. The KQ J may be distributed in 
eight different ways, in any of which your partner will pass your Ten 
if second hand does not cover. In four cases, second hand would 
cover with the King, and in one with the Queen and Jack. In the 
remaining three your partner's hand would be benefited. 

If Dummy has King and one or two small cards, it is not so 
disadvantageous to lead up to the King as would at first appear ; 
because it is forced out of his hand on the first round, unless 
declarer plays Ace ; and it is usually good policy to force out 
Dummy's cards of re-entry early in the hand. 

In leading from high-card combinations, the usual bridge leads 
should be followed ; but exceptions must be made on the 
second round when certain cards are in Dummy's hand. For in- 
stance : With A K J and others, it is usual to stop after the first 
round, and wait for the finesse of the Jack. This is obviously 
useless if the Queen is not in Dummy's hand. So with K Q 10, 
unless Dummy has the Jack; or K Q 9, unless Dummy has the 
10. The lead from A Q J should be avoided if Dummy has the 
King. 

With A Q 10 and others, J in Dummy's hand, begin with the 
Queen. 

With A J 9 and others, 10 in Dummy's hand, lead the Jack. 

With A J 10, Dummy having K Q x, play the Jack, and do not 
lead the suit again. 

In trumps,* with K Q and others, if Dummy has the J singly 
guarded, begin with the King as usual, but follow it with the 
Queen instead of the smallest ; for declarer may have passed in 
the hope of making a Bath coup with both Ace and Jack. In 



LEADING TO DUMMY. (Bridge.) 17 

plain suits this is a dangerous lead, as declarer having Ace, and 
wishing to force Dummy, would hold his Ace as a matter of course. 

With short suits, such as Kx,Qx; or even with King or Queen 
alone, the honour is a good lead if Dummy has no court cards in 
the suit. The Queen is rather a better lead than the King, the 
only danger being that second hand holds fourchette. 

With Q J x, or J 10 x, one of the high cards should be played. 
With Q 10 x, Dummy having Ace or King, the Queen should be 
led. 

With K io x, Dummy having Jack, the suit should not be led. 

With such combinations asKxxx, Dummy having Q x, the suit 
should not be led. 

When you have a suit which is both long and strong, such as 
A K x x x, and Dummy has no honour in the suit, it is a common ar- 
tifice to underplay, by beginning with the smallest, if .playing against 
no-trumps and you have a card of re-entry. This should not 
be done unless you have the general strength to justify such a 
finesse. 

If you open a long suit, Dummy having only small cards, and 
your partner wins with Q, J, or io, and does not return it, he has 
evidently a finesse in the suit and wants it led again. 

End Games. In the end game there are several variations 
which are made possible by the fact that the cards on your right 
are exposed. 

With A J x, Dummy having Qxx, the small card should be led. 

With Q x, and an odd card, Dummy having K x x of the first 
suit ; it is better to play the odd card ; but if for any reason this 
should not be done, lead the Q, hoping to find A io with your 
partner. 

The state of the score must be a constant guide in all end 
games. For instance: You hold Q io x, Dummy having J 9 x. 
If you want only one trick, play the Queen ; but if you want two, 
play the small card. 

SECOND HAND PLAY. The easiest position to play ae 
second hand, is, of course, with the Dummy on your left, because 
Dummy's cards will show what is best to be done. If a small 
card is led, you having King, put it on if Dummy has not the Ace ; 
unless you want partner to get the lead. If Dummy has only two 
cards of the suit, neither of them the Ace, always play your King. 

When the declarer leads a suit it is often important to count how 
many he and your partner can possibly hold. For instance: You 
have four, K x x x ; Dummy has four, A J 10 x, and declarer leads 
the Queen. It is useless to play your King; for either the Queen 
is a singleton, and the declarer cannot continue the suit, which will 
compel Dummy to lead it to you eventually ; or, the third round 



18 (Bridge) SECOND-HAND PLAY. 

will be trumped, perhaps by your partner. If you have only two 
small cards with the King, put it on the Queen. You cannot save 
it, but you may establish your partner's 9. 

In the last three tricks, if you find yourself with a doubtful 
card, and the best and a small card of a suit which the declarer 
leads through you, win the trick and lead the doubtful card, for 
if the declarer held the best of that suit he would have led it 
first, to be sure of a trick. 

Dummy on the Might. When Dummy leads through 
you, your skill in avoiding any traps the declarer may be setting 
for you will depend on your knowledge of how he manages his 
hand, and your ability to infer what he holds. 

As a general principle, it may be assumed that any high card 
led by Dummy forms part of a combination, the unseen part of 
which is in the declarer's hand. If Dummy leads a Queen from 
Q x x, you holding A J x, it is almost a certainty that the de- 
clarer holds the King. If you have A K x, the dealer must have 
J 10 and several others. If you have K x x, the declarer prob- 
ably holds Ace, or a long suit headed by J 10. 

When Dummy leads strengthening cards, they must be to give 
the declarer a finesse. If he leads a small card from small cards, 
some high-card combination must be in the declarer's hand. In 
such cases it is useless for you to finesse. If you have any 
sequence superior to the card led, cover with the lowest. There 
should be no false-carding in this, because your partner is the 
only one that can be deceived. 

With A K and others, play the King, whatever Dummy leads. 

With A Q and others, Dummy having nothing higher than the 
9, play the Ace. 

With K Q 10, play the Queen on a small card led, unless 
Dummy has the Jack. 

With A J 10 x, play Ace if Dummy has no honour in the suit. 
But if Dummy leads the 9, cover with the 10; if it loses, you lie 
tenace over the declarer. 

With A J x, play the Jack on a 9 led. This prevents the finesse 
of the 9, and retains command of the suit. If Dummy has both 
K and Q, play your Ace. It is useless to play the Bath coup, for 
the declarer knows your cards, and your partner only is deceived. 

With K x x, if Dummy has not the Ace, do not play the King, 
no matter what is led. 

With Q x x, unless Dummy has both A and K, do not play the 
Queen. If your partner has the Jack guarded, one of you must 
make a trick. If Dummy has A J, and leads J, put on the Queen; 
it may make the 9 or 10 good in your partner's hand. 

With A x x, Dummy leading Jack, play the Ace. 

With any fourchette, cover the card led. 



THIRD HAND PLAY. (Bridge.) 19 

If Dummy remains with one or two small cards of a suit that 
has been led, and you have the best, play it on the second round. 
Dummy's play is evidently for the ruff, and if the declarer has not 
the second best, your partner has. 

If you have King, and only one or two small cards, Dummy 
leading Queen from Q 10 x x, play your King. You cannot save 
yourself; but you may make the 9 good in partner's hand. If 
you have three or more small cards, do not play the King, for 
either partner or the declarer must be short in the suit. So if 
Dummy leads Jack from J 10 and others, play the King with a 
short suit. If partner has Queen you establish it ; if not, you 
cannot make a trick in the suit. 

With short suits it is usually best to cover an honour with an 
honour; but with several small cards, such as K x x x, Dummy 
leading a singleton Queen, you should pass. 

With K 10 x, Dummy having J and others, play honour on 
honour ; small card on small card, whichever Dummy leads. 

It is often important for the second hand to cover with what is 
called an imperfect fourchette. A true fourchette is the card 
immediately above and below the one led ; such as K J over the Q, 
or Q 10 over the J. An imperfect fourchette is the card above the 
one led, and another next but one below it; such as K 10 over a 
Q led, or Q 9 over a J led. Covering forces the opponents to play 
two honours to win one trick, and will often make an intermediate 
card good in your partner's hand. 

THIRD HAND PLAT. In addition to the methods of 
echoing on the partner's leads of high cards in the suit first 
opened, third hand must be ready to adapt himself and his play to 
any change of suit and will require constant practice in putting 
himself in his partner's place, asking himself what the object is in 
leading certain cards through Dummy's hand. The inferences 
from the conventional leads should be sufficiently familiar to need 
no further explanation ; but even good players occasionally over- 
look indications that partner holds certain cards. For instance : 
A leads a small card ; Y, Dummy, holds Q xx, and plays Q. You 
play the King and win the trick. This marks not only the Ace, 
but the Jack in partner's hand; because the declarer would not 
play a twice guarded Queen from Dummy's hand if he had the 
Jack guarded himself. 

False cards should be avoided by the third hand as much as 
possible. The declarer will give your partner enough to puzzle over 
without your adding to the confusion. There are some exceptions 
in trumps. For instance : You have K Q x ; Dummy has A J x x, 
and your partner leads. Unless Dummy plays Ace, you should 
put on the King, and change the suit. 

If you hold Ace and others in a plain suit, partner leading Jack, 



20 (Bridge) THIRD HAND PL A Y. 

pass it if Dummy has no honour. Perhaps by winning the second 
round you can give the invited force. With any other honours 
than the Ace, pass a partner's Jack led. 

If partner leads you a suit of which he knows, or should know, 
you have not the best, he must have a good finesse in the suit 
which he does not lead, and you should take the first opportunity 
to lead that suit to him. 

In returning partner's suits, some modification may be suggested 
by the condition of Dummy's hand. For instance : With K x x; 
Dummy having A Q J x ; if you win, third hand, on Dummy's 
finesse, you may be sure your partner's lead was a weak suit. If 
Dummy is weak in the two other plain suits, your partner may have 
a good finesse in one or both of them. 

When your partner wins the first round of an adverse suit, and 
immediately returns it, he is inviting a force. 

Dummy on the Left, When the player is third hand with 
Dummy on his left, his chief care will be to divine his part- 
ner's object in leading certain cards up to Dummy. 

The general principles of inference are the same as in the pre- 
ceding case, and cards may often be inferred in the same manner 
from the evident intention of partner, ^or instance : You hold K 
x x; partner leads J, declarer covering with Queen. A glance at 
Dummy's cards shows him to have 10 x x; so your partner may 
be credited with A 9. You have x x ; your partner leading Q, 
covered by declarer with K, and Dummy having J x x. You may 
credit your partner with A 10. You have x x ; your partner leads 
Q and declarer wins with Ace ; Dummy holding 10 x x. Your 
partner must have J 9 and others, and the declarer has the King. 

There are several cases in which you should not allow Dummy 
to win the trick. If you have only one card of a suit in which 
your partner leads Ace then Queen, and Dummy has the King 
twice guarded, trump at once, if you can to prevent Dummy from 
getting into the lead. Your partner leads Queen ; you holding 
A 10 x, and Dummy having K x x. Let the King make on the 
first round. 

If your partner leads a small card up to strength in Dummy's 
hand, he is either inviting a force, or trying to establish a long 
suit. Under such circumstances, if you have the Ace, play it, and 
lead a second round of the suit immediately, which will settle the 
question. 

If you have Q J 10 of a suit in which partner leads King, play the 
Jack, so that he will count you for Q or no more, and will not go 
on with the Ace. 

IN GENERAL. Both the adversaries of Dummy should 
adopt the usual tactics for unblocking, etc., especially in no-trump- 



FOURTH HAND. (Bridge) 21 

ers, and in some cases Dummy's exposed cards will make the 
matter more simple. For instance: You hold A Q alone, of a 
suit which partner leads. If you are the pone, and Dummy has 
not the King, play Ace and return the Queen. 

FOURTH HAND. There is only one difference from the 
usual methods in playing fourth hand, and that is in indicating 
sequences by winning with the best and returning the lowest to 
show the intermediate cards. For instance : Fourth player, holding 
KQJ x, wins with King and returns the Jack. Or with A KQ, 
wins with Ace and returns the Queen. The reason for this is that 
the declarer gains nothing by the information^ for he knows from 
the first what cards are out against him ; but the information may be 
valuable to your partner, the second hand. If it is not the inten- 
tion to return the suit at once, the lowest of the sequence should 
be played. 

PLAYING TO THE SCORE. This is a most important 
element, and there is no surer indication of a careless or weak 
player than his inattention to the score. 

One cannot be too early impressed with the importance of sav- 
ing the game before trying to win it ; although great risks may be 
taken to win a game that cannot be lost that hand. 

Never risk a sure contract in the hope of making more ; unless 
the two will win the game, and the odd trick will not win it. 
Never risk a trick that will save the game in the hope of winning 
more, and always set a contract while you can. 

DISCARDING. This is one of the still unsettled questions 
of bridge tactics, some believing in discarding the weak suit 
always ; others the strong suit always, and others one or the other 
according to the declaration. Against a trump declaration almost 
every one agrees that it is best to discard the best suit, so that if 
your partner gets in before you do, he may have something to 
guide him as to what your best chance is for any more tricks. 

Against no-trumpers, the majority of players hug every possible 
trick in their long suit and discard their weak suits, on the ground 
that it is folly to throw away cards that might win tricks. While 
this is true, it is also true that in discarding their weak suit they 
too often enable the declarer to win tricks that they might have 
stopped. For this reason, many players discard the suit they 
are not afraid of; that is, their best protected suit, and keep 
what protection they have in the weak suits, even if it is nothing 
but three to a Jack or ten. Unfortunately, no one has yet been 
able to advance any argument sufficiently convincing for either 
system to demonstrate that it is better than the other. Some of 
the best teachers of the game advocate the discard from strength 
against no-trumps ; others teach the weak discard. 



22 (Bridge.) DISCARDING. 

ENCOURAGING DISC AMDS. In order to distin- 
guish between discards from weakness and those from strength, 
many players use what is called an encouraging card. This is 
anything higher than a six, if they have protection in the suit, 
or want it led. A player with an established suit, and A 8 2 of 
another suit, for instance, would discard the 8, to encourage his 
partner to lead that suit and put him in. In case there is no card 
higher than the six, the reverse discard is used. With A 4 2, 
the play would be the 4 and then the 2. Some use this reverse 
or encouraging card to induce the partner to continue the suit he 
is leading, but the practice is confusing. 

THE DECLARER'S PLAY. The chief difference be- 
tween the play of the Dummy and partner, and that of their ad- 
versaries, is that there is no occasion for the former to play on 
the probability of partner's holding certain cards, because a 
glance will show whether he holds them or not. There is no 
hoping that he may have certain cards of re-entry, or strength 
in _ trumps, or that he will be able to stop an adverse suit, or any- 
thing of that sort, for the facts are exposed from the first. In- 
stead of adapting his play to the slowly ascertained conditions of 
partner's hand, the declarer should have it mapped out and de- 
termined upon before he plays a card. He may see two courses 
open to him; to draw the trumps and make a long suit, Or to 
secure such discards as will give him a good cross-ruff. A rapid 
estimate of the probable results of each line of play, a glance at 
the score, and his mind should be made up. Several examples 
of this foresight will be found in the example hands. 

Another point of difference is, that the declarer should play 
false cards whenever possible. He has not a partner who, if he 
plays the King, might jump to the conclusion that he can trump 
a suit, or has not the Queen. The more thoroughly the adver- 
saries are confused, the greater the advantage to the declarer, 
especially in the end game. 

With a Trump. When the winning declaration is a suit for 
trumps, the declarer's first consideration upon getting into the 
lead must be whether or not to lead trumps. As a rule, the trumps 
should be led at once, so as to exhaust the adversaries ; but there 
are exceptional cases, the principal ones being: — 

Do not lead trumps from the strong trump hand if it would be to 
your advantage to put the other hand in the lead with a plain suit, 
so as to let the trump lead come from the weaker hand to the 
stronger, as when a finesse in trumps is desirable. 

Do not lead trumps if you have no good plain suit, and can 
make more tricks by playing for a cross-ruff. 

Do not lead trumps if the weaker hand can trump some of your 
losing cards first. It often happens that a losing trump can 
be used to win a trick before trumps are led. 



SUGGESTIONS FOB PLAY. (Bridge.) 23 

THE NULLO. Although not yet in the official laws of 
he game, this bid seems to be a popular one with many play- 
ers. It is a contract to lose tricks instead of winning them, and 
is primarily a defence against overwhelmingly strong no- 
trumpers. A bid of three nullos means that the declarer will 
force his opponents to win nine tricks, he winning four only, 
so that each trick under seven counts for the nullo player on 
his side. 

SCORING. There is some difference of opinion as to the 
proper value for the nullo, but the general verdict seems to be 
to put it just below the no-trumper at 10 a trick, no honours. 
Two no-trumps will outbid two nullos. If the adversaries of a 
nullo revoke, the declarer can give them three of his tricks, or 
take ioo in honours as penalty. If he revokes, they take ioo 
penalty as usual. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR BIDDING. The dealer should 
never bid a nullo originally, as it gives his partner no informa- 
tion as to the distribution of the suits. When any player has 
one long suit good for either no trumps or nullos, such as A K 
Q 6 4 2, he should "shout," bidding a trick more than necessary. 
Singletons and missing suits are valuable parts of a nullo hand, 
as they afford opportunities for discards. It is always danger- 
ous to bid a nullo without the deuce of the longest suit. If the 
dealer bids a spade, his partner may safely bid one nullo, because 
the contract is seldom or never obtained for less than two or 
three, but he should not persist in the nullo if his partner does 
not assist it. The greater the opposition from a no-trumper, the 
more probable that the nullo will succeed, but it is a dangerous 
declaration in any case. The player with aces and kings is sure 
to win tricks, regardless of his partner's hand, but deuces and 
treys are not sure to lose, as the partner may have . all high 
cards, although not the tops. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR THE FLAY. The declarer 
should count up the tricks he must win, and as a rule win them 
early, bunching his high cards as much as possible. Suits with 
two small cards and two high ones must win one trick, but 
should escape With that. The great point is to lead losing cards 
from one hand and discard dangerous cards in other suits from 
the other hand whenever possible. 

The opponents of a nullo should lead their shortest suits, so 
as to get discards later, keeping their eyes on the dummy and 
forcing it to win tricks whenever possible, but never allowing 
it to get a discard. The partner's leads should be returned un- 
less a singleton can be led at once. It is usual to lead the top 
of two cards, the intermediate of three or more, and to avoid 
leading suits that are safe, with small cards at the bottom. 



24 (Bridge.) 



VARIETIES OF BRIDGE. 

THREE HAND AUCTION. This is a game for three 
active players only, but four may form a table. Each player 
is for himself, there being no partnerships except the temporary 
combination against the declarer for each deal. The player who 
cuts the lowest card chooses his seat and cards and the player 
with the next lower cut sits on his left, the other on his right. 

The cards are dealt one at a time into four packets, of thirteen 
each, just as in the ordinary game of auction, the odd hand re- 
maining untouched until the winning declaration is decided. 
The dealer makes the first bid and then each bids in turn until 
two pass. The penalty for bidding out of turn is 50 points added 
to the score of each opponent, for doubling out of turn it is 100. 
If both pass the irregularity there is no penalty, but if only one 
passes, the third may call attention to it. 

The highest bidder takes up the dummy hand, sorts it and 
lays it on the table opposite him, face up, as soon as the eldest 
hand leads a card. If there is a player sitting opposite the high- 
est bidder, he moves to the vacant seat. 

The game is 30 points, and the winner of a game adds 125 
points to his score at once. The first player to win two games 
not only adds the 125 for the second game, but 250 more for 
winning the rubber. Honours are scored by each player separately, 
every honour being worth as much as a trick in that suit. Four 
or five in one hand count double. At no trump, the aces count 
for 10 each to the holders, four in one hand 100. The de- 
clarer scores his dummy's honours. 

At the end of the rubber, each wins from or loses to each- 
of the others. The score is usually made up in this way, the 
final amounts to the credit of each being shown in the top line: 

A, 240 B, 980 C, 456 

— 740 + 740 + 21s 

— 215 . + 524 — 524 

— 955 +1264 — 309 

DUPLICATE AUCTION. This game may be played in 
any of the ways described for the movement of trays and players 
under the head of duplicate whist. Tricks and honours are scored 
as usual, but there are no games or rubbers. Should the declarer 
make 30 or more points on a single hand he gets 125 points bonus 
in the honour column. This game is now covered by the official 
laws for auction, which see. 



BRIDGE FOR THREE. (Bridge.) 25 

BRIDGE FOR THREE. Sometimes called Dummy 
Bridge, or Cut-Throat. The lowest cut deals the first hand 
and plays the Dummy. If the dealer will not declare on his 
own cards, he passes, and Dummy must declare according to a 
fixed schedule. With three or four aces ; no-trumps, no matter 
what the rest of the hand may be. With less than three aces, 
Dummy cannot make it no-trumps under any circumstances ; but 
must name the longest suit. If two suits are equal, the pips on 
each are counted, reckoning aces as n each, other honours at 10 
each, and the larger number of pips is the suit. If this is still 
equal, the more valuable suit must be declared. 

No one but the eldest hand may double, and no one but the 
dealer may redouble. In order to make this fair for both sides, 
it is usual to let the pone sort and declare on Dummy's cards, so 
that the dealer shall not see them until the first card is led. 

No matter what points are made for tricks, the dealer only can 
score them below the line, to count toward game. If the adver- 
saries make the odd trick, they score above the line, in the honour 
column, so that no one can go out except on his own deal. 

After the deal is finished and scored, the players move, so as to 
bring about a change of partners. The one on the left of the 
vacant place moves into it, and the player on his right deals. 
Three of these movements bring about the original position. 

Each player's score is kept individually, and when one of the 
three has won two games, the scores are added up and balanced, 
after giving the winner ioo rubber points. Each then pays the 
difference to the others. Suppose the winner to be A, with 320 ; 
B having 80 and C 64. A wins 240 from B and 256 from C ; 
while B wins 16 from C. 

BRIDGE FOR TWO. Sometimes called "Chinese 
Bridge." The dealer*gives his adversary four cards face down, 
and then deals four to himself, also face down. He then dis- 
tributes the remainder of the pack by dealing to his adversary 
and himself alternately, one card at a time, keeping them separate 
from the first four. Without lifting or looking at any of these 
twenty-two cards, each player places eleven of them in two rows, 
face down, and then the other eleven on the top of the first, but 
face up. This gives each player eleven cards face upon the table, 
covering eleven face down under them, and a separate hand of four 
cards. • 

The dealer looks at his four cards, without showing them to his 
adversary, and after due consideration of what he sees on the table, 
declares. His adversary can double if he likes, or he can simply 
play a card. Tricks and honours count as in the ordinary rubber. 

The declaration made, the non-dealer leads any card he pleases, 
from the four in his hand or from the eleven face up on the table, 



26 (Bridge) MISERY BRIDGE. 

and the dealer must follow suit if he can, either from his hand or 
from the table. The moment a card is played from the table, the 
card under it must be turned face up, and becomes playable ; but 
no card which is on the top of another card can be shifted, so that 
the card under it cannot be turned up until its covering card is le- 
gitimately played away. 

The second player having played to the trick, the original leader 
must play to it in his turn, and then his adversary plays the fourth 
card, completing the trick. The winner of the trick takes it in, 
turns it down, and leads for the next trick, and so on until all 
thirteen tricks have been played. The winner of the rubber scores 
ioo points extra. 

MISERY BRIDGE, This is a game for two players, who 
sit opposite each other. Four hands of thirteen cards each are 
dealt, the dealer beginning on his left. Before declaring, the 
dealer may discard any number of cards from one to four, laying 
them on the table at his left, but face up, where they so remain 
during the play of the hand. 

In place of this discard, the dealer takes an equal number of 
cards from the top of the hand on his left. These are not shown 
to the adversary. Having discarded and drawn, the dealer de- 
clares* There is no doubling; but the dealer himself may under- 
take to win at least eight of the thirteen tricks, and if he.announces 
" eight tricks," he can score them at double value if he succeeds. 
If he fails to get the full eight, his adversary scores ten points 
penalty, the dealer scoring nothing at all. No matter what the 
trump suit, the penalty of ten points remains the same. 

After discarding, drawing and declaring, the stock hand is laid 
aside, still face down, and the non-dealer takes up and sorts the 
hand on his left, turning it face up on the table, like a Dummy. 
This hand belongs to the non-dealer, who leads first and plays both 
hands, so that the dealer is practically opposed to two hands of 
thirteen cards each. 

If the dealer does not want to discard and draw, he can play 
misery, which is a no-trumper, but played to lose tricks, instead 
of to win them. If the dealer takes more than one trick, his ad- 
versary scores five points penalty for each so taken. But if the 
dealer succeeds in taking only one trick, or none at all, he scores 
five points for every trick his adversary has taken over the book of 



PIVOT BRIDGE. This is simply a movement of the play- 
ers, very popular in social games, which requires that the four 
originally seated at a table shall remain at that table until the game 
is ended, and shall not cut for partners after the first rubber, but 
change in regular order. The usual way is for the first dealer to 



DUPLICATE BRIDGE. (Bridge.) 27 

sit still all the time, the three other players moving round her in a 
circle at the end of each rubber. This will compel the player on 
her left to pass behind her and take the seat on her right. At the 
end of three rubbers, each will have had each of the others for a part- 
ner. When there are a number of tables in play, it* will be neces- 
sary to have a prize for each, giving the first choice to the player 
who has the highest score in the room. 

When this method is adopted, it is not necessary to deduct the 
lower score from the higher at the end of each rubber, so that each 
. player can keep what she gets, the comparative result being the 
same if the players remain at the same table. This method is open 
to the objection that if two strong players are opposed to weak ones 
all the time, it is a great advantage. It is also liable to abuse, if 
four players agree to double everything, so that some one at the 
table shall be high score. 

PROGRESSIVE BRIDGE. This is simply a movement 
of the players from table to table, much as described under the 
heading of compass whist. The players may either agree that 
all the N.& S pairs shall sit. still, all the E & W pairs moving one 
table ; or they may arrange for the winners to move in a certain 
direction. In all progressive games, sometimes called Drive 
Bridge, there are no rubbers or games, as one table would keep 
all the others waiting. An even number of deals, usually four, is 
the rule for each round before moving. 

DUPLICATE BRIDGE. This is bridge with the hands 
kept separate and put into trays to be carried from table to table. 
The methods will be found fully described under the titles for du* 
plicate whist. In order to prevent the players from giving too much 
attention to the honours in declaring, it is sometimes the rule to add 
a certain number of points to the trick scores, as a bonus. This is 
called Bridge to the Score. Four deals is a round, before chang- 
ing adversaries, and fifty points are added to the score of the side 
having the greater trick score. Another method is to add fifty 
points to the side winning a game, if a game is won before moving, 
and then to add a definite number of points for every trick point 
that one side may be ahead of the other on unfinished games; or as 
many points as the higher score below the line. 

None of these methods have proved attractive enough to be popu- 
lar, however, although the first is the one commonly adopted for 
club tournaments, adding fifty points bonus for the higher trick 
score, regardless of any games or rubbers. All the additions of per- 
centages require special score cards and the services of some al- 
leged expert to run the game, and even then they are not attractive. 
The problem of duplicate bridge remains as yet unsolved, so far as 
a popular game is concerned. 



28 (Bridge.) 



SIX-HAND BRIDGE. 



, SIX-HAND BRIDGE. This is played by six persons, sit- 
ting with two card tables pushed together so as to make one. Each 
dealer sits at the long end of the table, the two dealers being part- 
ners. On each side of one sits a pair of adversaries so that the 
initial arrangement, if pair A had the deal, would be this : — 





B 


C 






5 


6 




I 






4 




2 


3 






B 


C 





Numbers are placed on thf tables to indicate the positions to 
which the players shall move after each deal. The player at 6 goes 
to 5 ; 4 to 3 ; 3 to 2 ; 2 to I, and I to 6. Each pair of partners, as 
they fall into the end seats, have the deal. 

If the dealer at either end will not declare on his own cards, he 
passes it, and the Dummy hand opposite him must be handed to 
the dealer that sits at the other end of the long table, who must de- 
clare for his partner. The usual four hands are dealt and played 
at each table, and scored as usual. 

Three scores must be kept, because there are three separate rub- 
bers going on at once, — that between A and B ; between A and C, 
and between B and C If one pair wins its rubber against one of 
the others, three players will be idle at one end of the table for one 
deal, but then all will come into play again, for the next deal. Some 
persons think this is better than four playing a rubber while two 
look on. 



DOUBLE DUMMY BBIDGE. In this form of the game, 
the dealer always deals for himself. His adversary sits next him 
on the left for the first deal, and leads for the first trick before the 
Dummies are exposed. There is no doubling. On the next deal, 
the adversary must sort his Dummy's hand and must lead from it, 
before looking at his own. If the declaration is passed, Dummy 
must make it on the lines laid down for passed makes in Bridge for 
Three, which has already been described. There is no penalty for 
a revoke made by either Dummy ; but otherwise the Jaws of bridge 
govern. 



KING'S BRIDGE. (Bridge.) 29 

DRAW BRIDGE. This is double Dummy; but instead of 
laying Dummy's cards face up on the table, each player is provided 
with a holder in which he places his partner's cards in such a manner 
that his adversary cannot see them. As it comes to Dummy's turn 
to play to each trick, a card is drawn from the holder. AH four 
hands are responsible for revokes. 

KING 9 S BR1D GE. This is sometimes called Four Hand 
Bridge, each player being for himself. The movements of the 
•players are the same as those described in Pivot Bridge, one player 
sitting still all the time, while each of the others in turn becomes 
his partner for four deals. 

The dealer declares. If he passes, the player sitting opposite him 
must make it according to the mechanical rules given in Bridge 
for Three. There is no doubling. The score of each player is 
kept in a separate column, and the trick and honour score is put 
down in one lump, plus or minus, the new score being added to or 
deduced from the previous one. It is simpler, however, to put 
down nothing but the plus scores, so that when the declaration is 
defeated, the points are credited to each of the three other players. 
Suppose the dealer wins 16 and 16. He is put down as 32 plus. If 
he should lose 12 and 30, his score would not be touched, but each 
of the others would be put down 42 plus. 

There are no games or rubbers. At the end of four deals the 
players change partners by the pivot system. At the end of twelve 
deals, each has played four deals with each of the others. The 
scores are then added up and balanced by the method described in 
connection with the game of Skat. 

REVERSI BRIDGE. This is playing bridge, to lose, and 
the object of the declaration is to pick out the make which is likely 
to win the least tricks. At the end of the hand, each side scores 
what the other makes ; so that if the dealer declares no-trumps, and 
loses two by cards, and finds thirty aces against him, he scores 24 
and 30 to his own credit. The adversaries can double if they wish 
to, and all the rules of regular bridge apply, except that if a revoke 
is made the usual penalty is reversed, the player in error taking three 
tricks instead of losing them. 

SHORT BRIDGE. This is bridge without any doubling or 
rubbers, and is played for so much a game instead of for so much a 
point, the winners being the side that has the higher score for 
tricks and honours combined when either side reaches thirty points 
below the line. It is a good game for occasions upon which the 
players may be interrupted at any time, or have not time to finish 
a full rubber. 



30 (Bridge.) 

THE AMERICAN LAWS OF BRIDGE. 

Revised to February, 1916. 

Copyright, 1916, by The Whist Club of New York. 
Reprinted by permission. 



the rubber. 

I. The partners first winning two games win the rubber. 
When the first two games decide the rubber, a third is not played. 



2. Each side has a trick score and a score for all other counts, 
generally known as the honour score. In the trick score the only 
entries made are points for tricks won (see Law 3), which count 
both toward the game and in the total of the rubber. 

All other points, including honours, penalties, slam, little slam, 
and undertricks, are recorded in the honour score, which counts 
only in the total of the rubber. 

1 3. When the declarer wins the number of tricks bid or more, 
I each above six counts on the trick score; six points when 
clubs are trumps, seven when diamonds are trumps, eight when 
hearts are trumps, nine when spades are trumps, and ten when 
the declaration is no trump. 

4. A game consists of thirty points made by tricks alone. Every 
deal is played out, whether or not during it the game be con- 
cluded, and any points made (even if in excess of thirty) are 
counted. 

5. The ace, king, queen, knave, and ten of the trump suit are the 
honours ; when no trump is declared, the aces are the honours. 

6. Honours are credited to the original holders ; they are valued 
as follows : 

When a Trump is Declared. 

3* honours held between partners equal value of 2 tricks. 



4 

" ■ " 5 

hand 8 

" C 5th in ) '« '] " 9 

u \ partner's 5 " " 10 



1 Frequently called "simple honours." 



LAWS OF BRIDGE. (Bridge.) 31 

When No Trump is Declared. 

3 aces held between partners count 30 

4 " " " " " 40 
4 " " in one hand " 100 

7. Slam is made when partners take thirteen tricks.* It counts 
40 points in the honour score. 

8. Little slam is made when partners take twelve tricks.f It 
counts 50 points in the honour score. 

9. The value of honours, slam, or little slam, is not affected by- 
doubling or redoubling. 

10. At the end of a rubber the side that has won two games 
scores a bonus of 250 points. 

The trick, honour and bonus scores of each side are then 
added and the size of the rubber is the difference between the 
respective totals. 

11. When a rubber is started with the agreement that the play 
shall terminate (i £., no new deal shall commence) at a specified 
time, and the rubber is unfinished at that hour, the score is made 
up as it stands, 125 being added to the score of the winners of a 
game. A deal if started must be finished. 

12. A proved error in the honour score may be corrected at any 
time before the score of the rubber has been made up and agreed 
upon. 

13. A proved error in the trick score may be corrected at any 
time before a declaration has been made in the following game, 
or, if it occur in the final game of the rubber, before the score has 
been made up and agreed upon. 

CUTTING. 

: 14. In cutting the ace is the lowest card; between cards of 
otherwise equal value the spade is the lowest, the heart next, 
the diamond next, and club the highest. 

15. Every player must cut from the same pack. 

16. Should a player expose more than one card, the highest 
is his cut. 

FORMING TABLES. 

17. Those first in the room have the prior right to play. Can- 
didates of equal standing decide their order by cutting; those 
who cut lowest play first. 

* Law 84 prohibits a revoking side from scoring slam, and provides 
that tricks received by the declarer as penalty for a revoke shall not en- 
title him to a slam not otherwise obtained. 

t Law 8t prohibits a revoking side from scoring little slam, and provides 
that tricks received by the declarer as penalty for a revoke shall not entitle 
him to a little slam not otherwise obtained. If a declarer bid 7 and take 
twelve tricks he counts 50 for little slam, although his declaration fails. 



32 (Bridge.) LAWS OF BRIDGE. 

18. Six players constitute a complete table. 

19. After the table has, been formed, the players cut to 
decide upon partners, the two lower play against the two 
higher. The lowest is the dealer, who has choice of cards 
and seats, and, having made his selection, must abide by it* 

20. The right to succeed players as they retire is acquired 
by announcing the desire to do so, and such announcements, in 
the order made, entitle candidates to fill vacancies as they occur. 

CUTTING OUT. 

21. If, at the end of a rubber, admission be claimed by one 
or two candidates, the player or players who have played the 
greatest number of consecutive rubbers withdraw; when all 
have played the same number, they cut to decide upon the 
outgoers; the highest are out.f 

RIGHT OF ENTRY. 

22. At the end of a rubber a candidate is not entitled to 
enter a table unless he declare his intention before any player 
cut, either for partners, for a new rubber, or for cutting out. 

23. In the formation of new tables candidates who have 
not played at an existing table have the prior right of entry. 
Others decide their right to admission by cutting. 

24. When one or more players belonging to an existing 
table aid in making up a new one, which cannot be formed 
without him, he or they shall be the last to cut out. 

25. A player belonging to one table who enters another, 
or announces a desire to do so, forfeits his rights at his original 
table, unless the new table cannot be formed without him 
in which case he may retain his position at his' original table 
by announcing his intention to return as soon as his place at 
the new table can be filled. 

26. Should a player leave a table during the progress of a 
rubber, he may, with the consent of the three others, appoint 
a substitute to play during his absence; but such appointment 
becomes void upon the conclusion of the rubber, and does 
not in any way affect the rights of the substitute. 

27. If a player break up a table, the others have a prior 
right of entry elsewhere. 

SHUFFLING. 

28. The pack must not be shuffled below the table nor so the 
face of any card be seen. 

29. The dealer's partner must collect the cards from the 
preceding deal and has the right to shuffle first. Each player 

* He may consult his partner before making his decision. 
t See Law 14 as to value of cards in cutting. 



LAWS OF BRIDGE. (Bridge.) 33 

has the right to shuffle subsequently. The dealer has the right 
to shuffle last, but should a card or cards be seen during his 
shuffling or while giving the pack to be cut, he must reshuffle. 

30. After shuffling, the cards, properly collected, must be placed 
face downward to the left of the next dealer, where they 
must remain untouched until the end of the current deal. 

THE DEAL. 

31. Players deal in turn; the order of dealing is to the left. 

32. Immediately before the deal, the player on the dealer's 
right cuts, so that each packet contains at least four cards. 
If, in or after cutting and prior to the beginning of the deal, 
a card be exposed, or if any doubt exist as to the place of the 
cut, the dealer must reshuffle and the same player must cut again. 

33. After the pack has been properly cut, it should not be 
reshuffled or recut except as provided in Law 32. 

34. Should the dealer shuffle after the cut, his adversaries 
may also shuffle and the pack must be cut again. 

35. The fifty-two cards must be dealt face downward. The 
deal is completed when the last card is dealt. 

36. In the event of a misdeal, the same pack must be dealt 
again by the same player. 

A NEW DEAL. 

37. There must be a new deal: 

(a) If the cards be not dealt, beginning at the dealer's 

left into four packets one at a time and in regular 
rotation. 

(b) If, during a deal, or during the play the pack be 

proved incorrect. 

(c) If, during a deal, any card be faced in the pack or 

exposed, on, above, or below the table. 

(d) If more than thirteen cards be dealt to any player.* 

(e) If the last card does not come in its regular order 

to the dealer. 
(/) If the dealer omit having the pack cut, deal out of 
turn or with the adversaries' cards, and either 
adversary call attention to the fact before the 
end of the deal and before looking at any of his 
cards. 

38. Should a correction of any offence mentioned in 37 f 
not be made in time, or should an adversary who has looked at 
any of his cards be the first to call attention to the error, the deal 
stands, and the game proceeds as if the deal had been correct, 
the player to the left dealing the next. When the deal has been 

* This error, whenever discovered, renders a new deal necessary. 



34 (Bridge) LAWS OF BRIDGE. 

with the wrong cards, the next dealer may take wlrchever pack 
he prefers. 

39. If, prior to the cut for the following deal, a pack be 
proved incorrect, the deal is void, but all prior scores stand.* 

The pack is not incorrect when a missing card or cards are 
found in the other pack, among the quitted tricks, below the table, 
or in any other place which makes it possible that such card or 
cards were part of the pack during the deal. 

40. Should three players have their proper number of cards, 
the fourth, less, the missing card or cards, if found, belong to 
him, and he, unless dummy, is answerable for any established 
revoke or revokes he may have made just as if the missing card 
or cards had been continuously in his hand. When a card is 
missing, any player may search the other pack, the quitted tricks, 
or elsewhere for it.f 

If before, during or at the conclusion of play, one player hold 
more than the proper number of cards, and another less, the deal 
is void. 

41. A player may not cut, shuffle, or deal for his partner if 
either adversary object. 

41a. A player may not lift from the table and look at any of 
his cards until the end of the deal. The penalty for the viola- 
tion of this law is 25 points in the adverse honour score for each 
card so examined. 

THE DECLARATION. 

42. The dealer, having examined his hand, must either pass or 
declare to win at least one odd trick,$ either with a specified 
suit, or at no trump. 

43. The dealer having declared or passed, each player in turn, 
beginning on the dealer's left, must pass, make a higher decla- 
ration, double the last declaration made by an opponent, or re- 
double an opponent's double, subject to the provisions of Law 54. 

44. When all four players pass their first opportunity to de- 
clare, the deal passes to the next player. 

45. The order in value of declarations from the lowest up is 
clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades, no trump. 

To overcall a declaration, a player must bid, either 

(a) An equal number of tricks of a more valuable declara- 
tion, or 
(&) A greater number of tricks. 
E. g., 3 spades over 3 diamonds ; 5 clubs over 4 hearts ; 4 dia- 
monds over 3 no trump. 

46. A player in his turn may overbid the previous adverse dec- 
laration any number of times, and may also overbid his partner, 

* A correct pack contains exactly fifty-two cards, one of each denomination. 
+ The fact that a deal is concluded without any claim of irregularity shall be 
deemed as conclusive that such card was part of the pack during the deal. 
± One trick more than six. 



LAWS 01 BRIDGE. (Bridge) 35 

but he cannot overbid his own declaration which has been passed 
by the three others.* 

47. The player who makes the final declarationf must play the 
combined hands, his partner becoming dummy, unless the suit or . 
no trump finally declared was bid by the partner before it was 
called by the final declarer, in which case the partner, no matter 
what bids have intervened, must play the combined hands. 

48. When the player of the two hands (hereinafter termed "the 
declarer") wins at least as many tricks as he declared, he scores 
the full value of the tricks won (see Law 3).$ 

48a. When the declarer fails to win as many tricks as he de- 
clares, neither he nor his adversaries score anything toward the 
game, but his adversaries score in their honour column 50 points 
for each undertrick (i. e., each trick short of the number de- 
clared). If the declaration be doubled, the adversaries score . 
100 points ; if redoubled, 200 points for each undertrick. 

49. If a player make a declaration (other than passing) out 
of turn, either adversary may demand a new deal, may treat 
such declaration as void, or may allow such declaration to stand. 

' In the latter case the bidding shall continue as if the declara- 
tions had been in turn. A pass out of turn, or bid declared void 
does not affect the order of bidding, i. e., it is still the turn of 
the player to the left of the previous declarer. The player who 
has bid out of turn may reenter the bidding in his proper turn 
without penalty, but if he has passed out of his turn, he may 
only do so in case the declaration he has passed be overbid or 
doubled. 

If a declaration out of turn be made and the proper declarer 
then bid, such bid shall be construed as an election that the 
declaration out of turn is to be treated as void. 

50. If a player make an insufficient declaration, either adver- 
sary may demand that it be made sufficient in the declaration 
named, in which case the partner of the declarer may not fur- 
ther declare unless an adversary subsequently bid or double. > 

500. If a player who has been debarred from bidding under 
Laws 50, 52 or 65, during the period of such prohibition, make 
any declaration (other than passing), either adversary may de- 
cide whether such declaration stand, and neither the offending 
player nor his partner may further participate in the bidding 
even if the adversaries double or declare. 

Sob. A penalty for a declaration out of turn (see Law 49), 
an insufficient declaration (see Law 50), or a bid when pro- 
hibited (see. Law 500) may not be enforced if either adversary 
pass, double, or declare before the penalty be demanded.§ 

50c. Laws which give to either adversary the right to enforce 
a penalty, do not permit unlimited consultation. Either ad- 

* An impossible declaration gives the opponents the right to demand a new deal, or 
to return to their own declaration. 

+ A declaration becomes final when it has been passed by three players. 

% For amount scored by declarer, if doubled, see Laws 53 and 56. 

^When the penalty for an insufficient declaration is not demanded, the bid over 
which it was made may be repeated unless some higher bid has intervened. 



36 (Bridge.) LAWS OF BRIDGE. 

versary may call attention to the offence and select the penalty, 
or may say, "Partner, you determine the penalty," or words to 
that effect. Any other consultation is prohibited,* and if it 
take place, the right to demand any penalty is lost. The first 
decision made by either adversary is final and cannot be 
altered. 

51. At any time during the declaration, a question asked by a 
player concerning any previous bid must be answered, but, after 
the final declaration has been accepted, if an adversary of the 
declarer inform his partner regarding any previous declaration, 
the declarer may call a lead from the adversary whose next 
turn it is to lead. If the dummy give such information to the 
declarer, either adversary of the declarer may call a lead when 
it is the next turn of the declarer to lead from either hand. A 
player, however, at any time may ask what declaration is being 
played and the question must be answered. 

52. A pass or double once made may not be altered. No decla- 
ration may be altered after the next player acts. Before action 
by the next player a no trump or suit declaration may be changed 

(a) To correct the amount of an insufficient bid. 

(b) To correct the denomination but not the size of a bid 

in which, due to a lapsus lingua, a suit or no trump 
has been called which the declarer did not intend to 
name. 
No other alteration may be im\de. 

DOUBLING AND REDOUBLING. 

53. Doubling and redoubling doubles and quadruples the value 
of each trick over six, but it does not alter the value of a 
declaration; e. g., a declaration of "three clubs" is higher than 
"two spades" doubled or redoubled. 

54. Any declaration may be doubled and redoubled once, but 
not "more; a player may not double his partner's declaration nor 
redouble his partner's double, but he may redouble a declaration 
of his partner which has been doubled by an adversary. 

The penalty for redoubling more than once is 100 points in 
the adverse honour score or a new deal ; for doubling a partner's 
declaration, or redoubling a partner's double it fs 50 points in 
the adverse honour score. Either adversary may demand any 
penalty enforceable under this law. 

55. Doubling or redoubling reopens the bidding. When a 
declaration has been doubled or redoubled, any one of the three 
succeeding players, including the player whcfse declaration has 
been doubled, may, in his proper turn, make a further declara- 
tion of higher value. 

* The question, "Partner, will you select the penalty, or shall I?" is a 
form of consultation which is not permitted. 



LAWS OF BRIDGE. (Bridge.) 37 

56. When a player whose declaration has been doubled wins 
the declared number of tricks, he scores a bonus of 50 points in 
his honour score, and a further 50 points for each additional 
trick. When he or his partner has redoubled, he scores 100 
points for making the contract and an additional 100 for each 
extra trick. 

57. A double or redouble is a declaration, and a player who 
doubles or redoubles out of turn is subject to the penalty pro- 
vided by Law 49. 

58. After the final declaration has been accepted, the play 
begins ; the player on the left of the declarer leads. 

DUMMY.* 

59. As soon as the player on the left Of the declarer leads, 
the declarer's partner places his cards face upward on the table, 
and the declarer plays the cards from that hand. 

60. The partner of the declarer has alj the rights of a player 
(including the right to call attention to a lead from the wrong 
hand), until his cards are placed face upward on the table. f He 
then becomes the dummy, and takes no part whatever in th& 
play, except that he has the right : 

(a) To call the declarer's attention to the fact that too 

many or too few cards have been played to a trick; 

(b) to correct an improper claim of either adversary; 

(c) to call attention to a trick erroneously taken by either 

side; 

(d) to participate in the discussion of any disputed ques- 

tion of fact after it has arisen between the de- 
clarer and either adversary; 

(e) to correct any erroneous score; 

(/) to consult with and advise the declarer as to which 

penalty to exact for a revoke; 
(g) to ask the declarer 'whether he have any of a suit 

he has renounced. 
The dummy, if he have not intentionally looked at any card 
in the hand of a player, has also the following additional rights : 
(h) To call the attention of the declarer to an established 

adverse revoke; 
(0 to call the attention of the declarer to a card exposed 

by an adversary or to an adverse lead out of turn. 

61. Should the dummy call attention to any other incident in 
the play in consequence of which any penalty might have been 
exacted, the declarer may not exact such penalty. Should the 
dummy avail himself of rights (h) or (i), after intentionally 

* For additional laws affecting dummy, See 51 and 93. 

t The penalty is determined by the declarer (see Law 66). 



38 (Bridge.) LAWS OF BRIDGE. 

looking at a card in the hand of a player, the declarer may not 
exact any penalty for the offence in question. 

62. If the dummy, by touching a card or otherwise; suggest 
the play of one of his cards, either adversary may require the 
declarer to play or not to play such card. 

62a. If the dummy call to the attention of the declarer that he 
is about to lead from the wrong hand, either adversary may re- 
quire that the lead be made from that hand. 

63. Dummy is not subject to the revoke penalty; if he revoke 
and the error be not discovered until the trick be turned and 
quitted, whether by the rightful winners or not, the revoke may 
not be corrected. 

64. A card from the declarer's hand is not played until actually 
quitted, but should he name or touch a card in the dummy, such 
card is played unless he say, "I arrange," or words to that 
effect. If he simultaneously touch two or more such cards, he 
may elect which to play. 

CARDS EXPOSED BEFORE PLAY. 

65. After the deal and before the declaration has been finally 
determined, if any player lead or expose a card, his partner may 
not thereafter bid or double during that declaration * and the 
card, if it belong to an adversary of the eventual declarer, is 
subject to call.t When the partner of the offending player is 
the original leader, the declarer may also prohibit the initial lead 
of the suit of the exposed card. 

66. After the final declaration has been accepted and before 
the lead, if the partner of the proper leader expose or lead a 
card, the declarer may treat it as exposed or may call a suit 
from the proper leader. A card exposed by the leader, after 
the final declaration and before the lead, is subject to call. 

CARDS EXPOSED DURING PLAY. 

67. After the original lead, all cards exposed by the declarer's 
adversaries are liable to be called and must be left face upward 
on the table. 

68. The following are exposed cards : 

(1) Two or more cards played simultaneously; 

(2) a card dropped face upward on the table, even though 

snatched up so quickly that it cannot be named; 

(3) a card so held by a player that his partner sees any 

portion of its face; 

(4) a card mentioned by either adversary as being held 

in his or his partner's hand. 

* See Law 50a. 

t If more than one card be exposed, all may be called. 



LAWS OF BRIDGE. (Bridge.) 39 

69. A card dropped on the floor or elsewhere below the table, 
or so held that it is seen by an adversary but not by the partner, 
is not an exposed card. 

70. Two or more cards played simultaneously by either of the 
declarer's adversaries give the declarer the right to call any one 
of such cards to the current trick and to treat the other card 
or cards as exposed. 

70a. Should an adversary of the declarer expose his last card 
before his partner play to the twelfth trick, the two cards in his 
partner's hand become exposed, must be laid face upward on 
the table, and are subject to call. 

71. If, without waiting for his partner to play, either of the 
declarer's adversaries play or lead a winning card, as against 
the declarer and dummy and continue (without waiting for his 
partner to play) to lead several such cards, the declarer may de- 
mand that the partner of the player in fault win, if he can, the 
first or any other of these tricks. The other cards thus im- 
properly played are exposed. 

72. If either or both of the declarer's adversaries throw his or 
their cards face upward on the table, such cards are exposed 
and liable to be called; but if e'ther adversary retain his hand, 
he cannot be forced to abandon it. Cards exposed by the de- 
clarer are not liable to be called. If the declarer say, "I have 
the rest," or any words indicating the remaining tricks or any 
number thereof are his, he may be required to place his cards 
face upward on the table. He is not then allowed to call any 
cards his adversaries may have exposed, nor to take any finesse 
not previously proved a winner unless he announce it when 
making his claim. 

73. If a player who has rendered himself liable to have the 
highest or lowest of a suit called (Laws 80, 86, and 92) fail 
to play as directed, or if, when called on to lead one suit, he 
lead another, having in his hand one or more cards of the suit 
demanded (Laws 66, 76, and 93), or if, when called upon to 
win or lose a trick, he fail to do so when he can (Laws 71, 80, 
and 92), or if, when called upon not to play a suit, he fail to 
play as directed (Laws 65 and 66), he is liable to the penalty 
for revoke (Law 84) unless such play be corrected before the 
trick be turned and quitted. 

74. A player cannot be compelled to play a card which would 
oblige him to revoke. 

75. The call of an exposed card may be repeated until it be 
played. 



LEADS OUT OF TURN. 

76. If either adversary of the declarer lead out of turn, the 
declarer may either treat the card so led as exposed or may call 



40 (Bridge.) LAWS OF BRIDGE. 

a suit as soon as it is the turn of either adversary to lead. 
Should they lead simultaneously, the lead from the proper hand 
stands, and the other card is exposed. 

77. If the declarer lead out of turn, either from his own hand 
or dummy, he incurs no penalty, but he may not rectify the 
error unless directed to do so by an adversary.* If the second 
hand play, the lead is accepted. 

78. If an adversary of the declarer lead out of turn, and the 
declarer follow either from his own hand or dummy, the trick 
stands. If the declarer before playing refuse to accept the lead, 
the leader may be penalized as provided in Law 76. 

79. If a player called on to lead a suit have none of it, the 
penalty is paid. 

CARDS PLAYED IN ERROR. 

80. Should the fourth hand, not being dummy or declarer, 
play before the second, the latter may be required to play his 
highest or lowest card of the suit led, or to win or lose the 
trick. In such case, if the second hand be void of the suit led, 
the declarer in lieu of any other penalty may call upon the 
second hand to play the highest card of any designated suit. If 
he name a suit of which the second hand is void, the penalty is 
paid.f 

81. If any one, except dummy, omit playing to a trick, and 
such error be not corrected until he has played to the next, the 
adversaries or either of them may claim a new deal; should 
either decide that the deal stand, the surplus card (at the end 
of the hand) is considered played to the imperfect trick, but 
does not constitute a revoke therein.^ 

82. When any one, except dummy, plays two or more cards to 
the same trick and the mistake is not corrected, he is answerable 
for any consequent revokes he may make. When the error is 
detected during the play, the tricks may be counted face down- 
ward, to see if any contain more than four cards; should this 
be the case, the trick which contains a surplus card or cards 
may be examined and such card or cards restored to the original 
holder.§ 

THE REVOKE.** 

83. A revoke occurs when a player, other than dummy, hold- 
ing one or more cards of the suit led, plays a card of a different 

♦The rule in Law 50c as to consultations governs the right of adversaries to con- 
sult as to whether such direction be given. 

t Should the declarer play third hand before the second hand, the fourth hand may 
without penalty play before his partner. 

t As to the right of adversaries to consult, see Law 50a. The decision should be 
made as soon as the error is discovered. 

§ Either adversary may decide which card shall be considered played to the trick 
which contains more than four cards. 

** See Law 73. 



LAWS OF BRIDGE. (Bridge) 41 

suit. It becomes an established revoke when the trick in which 
it occurs is turned and quitted by the rightful winners (i. e., 
the. hand removed from the trick after if has been turned face 
downward on the table), or when either the revoking player or 
his partner, whether in turn or otherwise, leads or plays to the 
following trick. 

84. The penalty for each established revoke is : 

(a) When the declarer revokes, he cannot score for tricks 
and his adversaries add 100 points to their score in 
the honour column, in addition to any penalty which 
he may have incurred for not making good his 
declaration. 

(&) When either of the adversaries revokes, the declarer 
may either add 100 points to his score in the honour 
column or take three tricks from his opponents and 
add them to his own.* Such tricks may assist the 
declarer to make good his declaration, but shall not 
entitle him to score any bonus in the honour column 
in case the declaration has been doubled or re- 
doubled, nor to a slam or little slam not otherwise 
obtained.! 

(c) When, during the play of a deal, more than one re- 
voke is made by the same side, the penalty for each 
revoke after the first is 100 points. 

The value of their honours is the only score that can be made 
by a revoking side. 

85. A player may ask his partner if he have a card of the 
suit which he has renounced ; should the question be asked before 
the trick be turned and quitted, subsequent turning and quitting 
does not establish a revoke, and the error may be corrected un- 
less the question be answered in the negative, or unless the re- 
voking player or his partner have led or played to the follow- 
ing trick. 

85a. Should the dummy leave the table during the play, he 
may ask his adversaries to protect him from revokes during his 
absence; such protection is generally called "the courtesies of 
the table" or "the courtesies due an absentee." 

If he make such request the penalty may not be enforced for 
a revoke made by the declarer during the dummy's absence un- 
less in due season an adversary have asked the declarer whether 
he have a card of the suit he has renounced. 

86. If a player correct his mistake in time to save a revoke, 
any player or players who have followed him may withdraw his 

* The dummy may advise the declarer which penalty to exact, 
t The value of the three tricks, doubled or redoubled, as the case may be, 
is counted in the trick score. 



42 (Bridge.) LAWS OF BRIDGE. 

or their cards and substitute others, and the cards so withdrawn 
are not exposed. If the player in fault be one of the declarer's 
adversaries, the card played in error is exposed, and the de- 
clarer may call it whenever he pleases, or he may require the 
offender to play his highest or lowest card of the suit to the 
trick. 

86a. If the player in fault be the declarer, either adversary 
may require him to play the highest or lowest card of the suit 
in which he has renounced, provided both his adversaries have 
played to the current trick; but this penalty may not be ex- 
acted from the declarer when he is fourth in hand, nor can it 
be enforced at all from the dummy. 

87. At the end of the play the claimants o£ a revoke may search 
all the tricks. If the cards have been mixed, the claim may be 
urged and proved if possible; but no proof is necessary and the 
claim is established if, after it is made, the accused player or his 
partner mix the cards before they have been sufficiently ex- 
amined by the adversaries. 

88. A revoke cannot be claimed after the cards have been cut 
for the following deal. 

89. Should both sides revoke, the only score permitted is for 
honours. In such case, if one side revoke more than once, the 
penalty of 100 points for each extra revoke is scored by the other 
side. 

GENERAL RULES. 

90. A trick turned and quitted may not be looked at (except 
under Law 82) until the end of the play. The penalty for the 
violation of this law is 25 points in the adverse honour score. 

91. Any player during the play of a trick or after the four 
cards are played, and before the trick is turned and quitted, may 
demand that the cards be placed before their respective players. 

92. When an adversary of the declarer, before his partner 
plays, calls attention to the trick, either by saying it is his, or, 
without being requested to do so, by naming his card or draw- 
ing it toward him, the declarer may require such partner to 
play his highest or lowest card of the suit led, or to win or lose 
the trick. 

^ 93. An adversary of the declarer may call his partner's atten- 
tion to the fact that he is about to play or lead out of turn; 
but if, during the play, he make any unauthorized reference to 
any incident of the play, the declarer may call a suit from the 
adversary whose next turn it is to lead. If the dummy similarly 
offend, either adversary may Call a lead when it is the next 
turn of the declarer to lead from either hand. 

94. In all cases where a penalty has been incurred, the offender 
is bound to give reasonable time for the. decision of his adver- 
saries. 



LAWS OF BRIDGE. (Bridge.) 43 



NEW CARDS. 

95. Unless a pack be imperfect, no player has the right to call 
for one new pack. When fresh cards are demanded, two packs 
Smust be furnished. When they are produced during a rubber, 
[the adversaries of the player demanding them have the choice of 
the new cards. If it be the beginning of a new rubber, the 
dealer, whether he or one of his adversaries call for the new 
cards, has the choice. New cards cannot be substituted after 
the pack has been cut for a new deal. 

06. A card or cards torn or marked must be replaced by agree- 
ment or new cards furnished. 

BYSTANDERS. 

97. While a bystander, by agreement among the players, may 
decide any question, he should not say anything unless appealed 
to; and if he make any remark which calls attention to an over- 
sight affecting the score, or to the exaction of a penalty, he is 
liable to be called upon t>y the players to pay the stakes (not 
extras) lost. 



44 xWhist.) 



WHIST. 



CARDS. Whist is played with a full pack of fifty-two cards, 
ranking A KQJio 98765432; the Ace being the 
highest in play, but ranking below the deuce in cutting. Two 
packs are generally used, the one being shuffled while the other is 
dealt. 

MARKERS are necessary to keep the score. The most com- 
mon are red and white circular counters ; the white being used 
for the points in each game, and the red for the games themselves, 
or for rubber points. It is better to have two sets, of different 
colours, each set consisting of four circular and three oblong count- 
ers, the latter being used for the rubber points, or for games. 

PLAYERS. Whist is played by four persons. When there 
are more than four candidates for play, five or six may form a 
" table." If more than six offer for play, the selection of the table 
is made by cutting. 

The table being formed, the four persons who shall play the 
first rubber are determined by cutting, and they again cut for 
partners, and the choice of seats and cards. 

CUTTING. The methods of cutting are the same as those 
described in connection with Bridge, and ties are decided in the 
same manner. 

PLAYERS 9 POSITIONS. The four players at a whist 
table are usually distinguished by the letters A, B, Y, Z ; the first 
two letters of the alphabet being partners against the last two, and 
their positions at the table being indicated as follows : — 



Z is always the dealer ; A the original leader, or first hand ; Y 
the second hand ; B the third hand ; and Z the fourth hand. 
After the first trick, some other player may become the leader ; the 
one on his left being the second hand ; his partner the third hand, 
and the player on his right the fourth hand. B is the pone. 



GENERAL DIRECTIONS. (Whist.) 45 

DEALING. The cards having been properly shuffled, the 
dealer presents them to the pone to be cut. The American laws 
require that after separating*the pack, the pone shall place the cut 
part, which he lifts off, nearer the dealer. Beginning at his left, 
the dealer distributes the cards one at a time in rotation, until the 
pack is exhausted. The last card is turned face up on the table, 
and the suit to which it belongs is the trump for that hand. 

When two packs are used, one is shuffled by the dealer's partner 
while the other is dealt, and the shuffled pack is placed on the left 
of the player whose turn it will be to deal next. Each player deals 
in turn until the conclusion of the game or rubber. 

IFFEG ULARITIES IN THE DEAL. The following 
rules regarding the deal should be strictly observed : — 

If any card is found faced in the pack, the dealer must deal 
again. Should the dealer turn over any card but the trump, while 
dealing, the adversaries may, if they please, demand a new deal. 
A player dealing out of turn may be stopped before the trump 
card is turned ; but after that, the deal must stand, afterwards 
passing to the left in regular order. On the completion of the 
deal, each player should take up and count his cards to see that he 
has thirteen ; if not, it is a misdeal, and unless the pack is found 
to be imperfect, the deal passes to the player on the misdealer's 
left. The dealer loses the deal : — if he neglects to have the pack 
cut ; if he deals a card incorrectly, and fails to remedy the error 
before dealing another ; if he counts the cards on the table, or 
those remaining in the pack ; if he looks at the trump card before 
the deal is complete ; or if he places the trump card face down, on 
his own or on any other player's cards. 

STAKES. When stakes are played for, it should be dis- 
tinctly understood at the beginning whether the unit is for a game, 
for a rubber, for rubber points, or for tricks. The English game 
is invariably played for so much a rubber point ; sometimes with 
an extra stake upon the rubber itself. In America, it is usual 
to play for so much a game ; but in some cases the tricks are the 
unit, deducting the loser's score from seven, or playing the last 
hand out and then deducting the loser's score. A very popular 
method is to play for a triple stake : so much a trick, playing each 
hand out ; so much a game ; and so much a rubber. These three 
stakes are usually in the proportion of 10, 25, and 50. In clubs it is 
customary to have a uniform stake for whist, and to fix a limit 
for all betting on the game beyond the " club stake." Good usage 
demands that those at the table should have the refusal of any 
bet made by a player, before it is offered to an outsider. 

METHOD OF FLAYING. The player on the dealer's 

left begins by leading any card he chooses, and the others must all 
follow suit if they can. Failure to follow suit when able is called 



46 (Whist) GENERAL DIRECTIONS. 

revoking ; the penalty for which, under the American laws, is the 
loss of two tricks ; under the English laws, three tricks or points. 
Any player having none of the suit led may either trump it or 
throw away a card of another suit, which is called discarding. 
When it is the dealer's turn to play to the first trick, he should 
take the trump card into his hand. - After it has been taken up it 
must not be named, and any player naming it is subject to a pen- 
alty, (see Laws ;) but a player may ask what the trump suit 
is. If all follow suit, the highest card played wins the trick ; 
trumps win against all other suits, and a higher trump wins a 
lower. The winner of the trick may lead any card he pleases 
for the next trick, and so on until all thirteen tricks have been 
played. 

Cards Played in Error, or dropped face upward on the 
table, or two or more played at once, are called exposed cards, 
and must be left on the table. They can be called by the adver- 
saries ; but the fact of their being exposed does not prevent their 
being played when the opportunity offers. Some persons imagine 
that the adversaries can prevent an exposed card from being 
played ; but such is not the case. 

Leading out of Turn. Should a player lead out of turn, the 
adversaries may call a suit from the player in error, or from his 
partner, when it is next the turn of either of them to lead. Ameri- 
can laws require the call to be made by the player on the. right of 
the one from whom the suit is called. The English laws give the 
adversaries the option of calling the card played in error an ex- 
posed card. If all have played to the trick before discovering the 
error, it cannot be rectified ; but if all have not played, those who 
have followed the false lead must take back their cards, which are 
not, however, liable to be called. 

Revoking Players cannot win the game that hand, no matter 
what they score ; but they may play the hand out, and score all 
points they make to within one point of game. 

Any player may ask the others to draw cards in any trick, 
provided he does so before they are touched for the purpose of 
gathering them. In answer to this demand, each player should in- 
dicate which of the cards on the table he played. 

In the English game, any player may look at the last trick 
turned and quitted ; in the American he may not. 

Taking Tricks, ' As the tricks are taken, they should be 
neatly laid one upon the other in such a manner that any player at 
the table can count them at a glance. There are several methods 
of stacking tricks ; the first shown being probably the best. 



GENERAL DIRECTIONS. (Whist.) 47 






When six have been taken by one side they are usually gathered 
together to form a book ; any subsequently taken being laid apart, 
as they are the only ones that count. It is customary for the 
partner of the player winning the first trick on each side to gather 
the tricks for that deal. In some places it is the custom for the 
partner of the winner of each trick to gather it, so that at the end 
of the hand each player has tricks in front of him. Although 
this method saves time, the practice is not to be recommended, as 
it hinders the players in counting the tricks already gained by 
each side. 

Immediately upon the completion of the play of a hand, the 
score should be claimed and marked. Any discussion of the play 
should be postponed until this has been attended to. The adver- 
saries must detect and claim revokes before the cards are cut for 
the following deal. 

The laws of whist should be carefully studied. 

OBJECT OF THE GAME. The object of all whist play 
is to take tricks, of which there are thirteen in each hand or deal. 
The first six tricks taken by one side are called a book, and do 
not count; but each trick above that number counts one point 
towards game. The seventh trick is called the odd; and two or 
more over the book are called two, three, etc., by cards. At 
the conclusion of each hand, the side that has won any tricks in 
excess of the book, scores them ; the opponents counting noth- 
ing. As soon as either side has scored the number of points pre- 
viously agreed upon as a game, which must be 5, 7, or 10, the 



48 (Whist.) GENERAL DIRECTIONS. 

cards are again shuffled and spread for the choice of partners, 
etc., unless it has been agreed to play a rubber. 

SCORING, There are several methods of scoring at whist. 
The English game is 5 points, rubbers being always played. Be- 
sides the points scored for tricks, honours are counted ; the games 
have a different value, according to the score of the adversaries ; 
and the side winning the rubber adds two points to its score. 

In scoring, the revoke penalty counts first, tricks next, and hon- 
ours last. 

The Revoke. Should the adversaries detect and claim a re- 
voke before the cards are cut for the following deal, they have the 
option of three penalties : 1st. To take three tricks from the re* 
voking player, adding them to their own. 2nd. To deduct 
three points from his game score. 3rd. To add three points to 
their own game score. The penalty cannot be divided. A revoke 
may be corrected by the player making it before the trick in which 
it occurs has been turned and quitted. The card played in error 
must be left face up on the table, and must be played when de- 
manded by the adversaries, unless it can be got rid of previously^ 
in the course of play. In America, the revoke penalty is two tricks. 

The Honours are^the four highest trumps, A, K, Q, and J ; and 
after tricks have been scored, partners who held three hon- 
ours between them are entitled to count two points towards game ; 
four honours counting four points. If each side has two honours, 
neither can count them. It is not enough to score them ; after the 
last card has been played, they must be claimed byword of mouth. 
If they are not claimed before the trump is turned for the following 
deal, they cannot be scored. Partners who, at the beginning ot a 
deal, are at the score of four, cannot count honours ; they must get 
the odd trick to win the game. Should one side be out by tricks,- 
and the other by honours, the tricks win the game, the honours 
counting nothing. 

Rubber Points. At the conclusion of each game, the rubber 
points are scored, either with the oblong counters, or on the small 
keys of the whist-marker. If the winners of a game are five 
points to their adversaries' nothing, they win a treble, and count 
three rubber points. If the adversaries have scored, but have one 
or two points only, the winners mark two points, for a double. 
If the adversaries have reached three or four, the winners mark 
one, for a single. The rubber points having been marked, all 
other scores are turned down. The side winning the rubber adds 
two points to its score for so doing. The value of the rubber is 
determined by deducting from the score of the winners any rub- 
ber points that may have been made by their adversaries. The 
smallest rubber possible to win is one point ; the winners having 
scored two singles and the rubber, equal to four; from which 



GENERAL DIRECTIONS. (Whist) 49 

they have to deduct a triple made by their adversaries. The 
largest rubber possible is eight points, called a bumper, the 
winners having scored two triples and the rubber, to their adver- 
saries' nothing. 

It is sometimes important to observe the order of precedence 
in scoring. For instance : if, at the beginning of a hand, A-B 
have three points to Y-Z's nothing, and A-B make two by hon- 
ours, Y-Z winning three by cards, Y-Z mark first ; so that A-B win 
only a single, instead of a treble. On the contrary, should A-B 
make two by cards, Y-Z claiming four by honours, A-B win a 
treble ; as their tricks put them out before it is Y-Z's turn to 
count. 

In America, where rubbers are played without counting honours, 
it is not usual to reckon rubber points ; but simply to add some 
agreed value to the score of those winning the odd game. 

Where single games are played, whether 5, 7, or 10 points, some 
persons consider the game as finished when the agreed number of 
points is reached. Others play the last hand out, and count all the 
tricks made ; so that if two partners were at the score of 6 in a 
7-point game, and made five by cards, they would win a game of 
1 1 points. When this is done, it is usual to deduct the score of the 
losers from the total, and to call the remainder the value of the 
game. In the American Whist League, the rule is to stop at 
seven points, and to determine the value of the game by deduct- 
ing the loser's score from seven. 

When long sittings occur without change of partners or adver- 
saries, it is a common practice to count the tricks continuously , 
and on the conclusion of the play, to deduct the lower score from 
the higher, the winners being credited with the difference. 

CUTTING OUT. If rubbers are played, there is no change 
of partners, or of rotation in the deal, until one side has won two 
games, which ends the rubber. If the first two games are won by 
the same partners, the third is not played. If more than four 
players belong to the table, those who have just played cut to de- 
cide which shall give place to those waiting; those cutting the 
highest cards going out. If six belong to the table, there will be 
no further cutting out ; as those who are out for one rubber re- 
enter for the next, taking the places of those who have played two 
consecutive rubbers. If five belong to the table, the three who 
remained in for the second rubber must cut to allow the fifth 
player to re-enter. At the end of the third rubber, the two cut 
that have not yet been out ; and at the end of the fourth rubber, 
the one who has played every rubber goes out without cutting. 
After this, it is usual to spread the cards, and to form the table 
anew. In all the foregoing instances, partners and deal must be 
<jut for, after the cut has decided which are to play. 



50 (Whist.) TEXT BOOKS. 

FA VOURITE WHIST. This is the regular 5, 7 or 10 point 

whist, with or without honours, except that whichever suit is cut 
for the trump on the first deal of the rubber is called the favour- 
ite. Whenever the suit turns up for trump, after the first deal, 
tricks and honours count double towards, game. There must be a 
new favourite at the beginning of each rubber, unless the same suit 
happens to be cut again. 

A variation is to attach a progressive value to the four suits; 
tricks being worth 1 point when Spades are trumps ; when Clubs 2 ; 
when Diamonds 3 ; and when Hearts 4. Honours do not count, 
and the game is 10 points, made by tricks alone. The hands are 
played out ; the winners score all tricks taken, and the winners of 
the rubber add 10 points for bonus. 
The value of the rubber is the dif- 
ference between the scores of the 
winners and that of the losers. For 
instance : If the rubbefr is in A-B's 
favour with the score shown in the 



1st game ; 10 to 6 

2nd game ; 4 to 16 

3rd game ; 14 to 8 

Rubber ; 10 



Totals 38 to 30 

margin A-B win a rubber of 8 points. 

This is a good game for superstitious people, who believe that 
certain trump suits are favourable to them. 



TEXT-BOOKS. 
The following list of works on whist, alphabetically arranged, 
contains the principal standard text-books on the game. Those 
marked * are especially for the beginner. Those marked x are 
chiefly devoted to the Short-suit game. 

Art of Practical Whist, by Major Gen. Drayson. 

* Foster's Whist Manual, by R. F. Foster. 

* Foster's Whist Tactics, by R. F. Foster. 

x Foster's Common Sense in Whist, by R. F. Foster. 

* Foster's Self-Playing Cards, by R. F. Foster. 
x Foster's Duplicate Whist, by R. F. Foster. 

Foster's American Leads, by R. F. Foster. 

* Foster's Whist at a Glance, by R. F. Foster. 

* Gist of Whist, by C. E. Coffin. 

x Howell's Whist Openings, by E. C. Howell. 
Laws and Principles of Whist, by " Cavendish." 
Modern Scientific Whist, by C. D. P. Hamilton. 
Philosophy of Whist, by Dr. W. Pole. 

* Practical Guide to Whist, by Fisher Ames. 
x Short-Suit Whist, by Val. W. Starnes. 

* Short Whist, by James Clay. 

* Theory of Whist, by Dr. W. Pole. 

* Whist, or Bumblepuppy, by " Pembridge." 
Whist Developments, by " Cavendish." 

* Whist of To-day, by Milton C. Work. 

* Whist h Trois, by Ch. Lahure. [Dummy.] 
x Whist, and its Masters, by R. F. Foster. 

* Whist, A monthly journal j pub. Milwaukee, Wis., U. S. A. 



(Whist.) 51 



DUPLICATE WHIST. 

Duplicate whist is not a distinct game, but is simply the name 
given to that manner of playing whist in which a number of 
hands are played over again with the same cards, but by different 
persons. 

CARDS. The cards have the same rank as at whist ; they are 
dealt in the same manner, and the same rules apply to all irregu- 
larities in the deal, except that a misdealer must deal again. The 
objects of the game are the same, and so are all the suggestions 
for good play. The only differences that require attention are the 
positions of the players, the manner of counting the tricks, and the 
methods of keeping and comparing the scores. 

THEORY. It may briefly be stated that duplicate proceeds 
upon the principle that if two partners have made a certain num- 
ber of tricks with certain cards, under certain conditions with re- 
spect to the lead, distribution of the other cards in the adversaries' 
hands, etc., the only way to decide whether or not two other play* 
ers could have done better, or cannot do so well, is to 'let them try 
it, by giving them the same cards, under exactly similar conditions. 

This comparison may be carried out in various ways ; but in 
every instance it depends entirely upon the number and arrange- 
ment of the players engaged. The most common forms are: 
club against club ; team against team ; pair against pair ; or man 
against man. The reason for the arrangement of the players will 
be better understood if we first describe the method. 

METHOD OF PLATING. There is no cutting for 
partners, and choice of seats and cards as at whist, because the 
players take their places and deal according to a prearranged 
schedule. 

The player to the left of the dealer begins by placing the card 
he leads face up on the table, and in front of him.. The second 
player follows by placing his card in front of him in the same man- 
ner ; and so the third, and so the fourth. The four cards are then 
turned face down, and the dealer takes up the trump. The part- 
ners winning the trick place their cards lengthwise, pointing 
towards each other ; the adversaries place theirs across. At the 
end of the hand, the number of tricks taken by each side can be 
seen by glancing at any player's cards. If there is any discrep- 
ancy, a comparison of the turned cards will show in which trick it 
occurs, and the cards can be readily faced and examined. 



52 (Whist.) DUPLICATE LAWS. 

Scoring. The score of each four hands should be added up 
by each individual player, and the results tabulated at the end of 
every four hands, in the manner described for eight individuals. 
The winner is the player who loses the fewest tricks. This is the 
only known system for deciding whether or not a man can play 
whist better than his wife. 

PROGRESSIVE DUPLICATE WHIST is the ge- 
neric name by which those sytems of duplicate are known in 
which the purpose is to have as many as possible of the players 
meet one another during the progress of the match. Most of the 
systems we have been describing belong to this class. 



There are at present only two works on Duplicate Whist ; but a 
number of articles on the subject may be found in " Whist." 

Duplicate Whist; by John T. Mitchell, 1896. 

Foster's Duplicate Whist; 1894. 

Whist; Jan., 1892; Jan., 1894; Aug., 1894; Oct., 1894; Jan., 
1895; Mar., 1895; May, 1895; J ulv > l8 95J ° ct -> l8 95» 



THE LAWS OF DUPLICATE WHIST. 

The Laws of Duplicate Whist as Amended and Adopted at the 
Whist Congress, Niagara Falls, New York, July, 1900; as 
amended at the Twelfth Congress, June, 1902; as amended at 
the Thirteenth Congress, July, 1903; Fourteenth A. W. L. 
Congress, July, 1904; Fifteenth Congress, July, 1905; Six- 
teenth Congress, July, 1906; Twentieth Congress, July 1910. 

DEFINITIONS. 

The words and phrases used in these laws shall be construed in 
accordance with the following definitions unless such construction 
is inconsistent with the context : 

(a) The thirteen cards received by any one plaver are termed a 
"hand." 

(b) The four hands into which a pack is distributed for play are 
termed a " d«al ; " the same term is also used to designate the act 
of distributing the cards to the players. 

(c) A "tray" is a device for retaining the hands of a deal and 
indicating the order of playing them. 



DUPLICATE LAWS. (Whist.) 53 

(d) The player who is entitled to the trump card is termed the 
u dealer," whether the cards have or have not been dealt by him. 

(e) The first play of a deal is termed "the original play; " the 
second or any subsequent play of such deal, the "overplay." 

(f) " Duplicate Whist " is that form of the game of whist in 
which each deal is played only once by each player, and in which 
each deal is so overplayed as to bring the play of teams, pairs of 
individuals into comparison. 

(g) A player " renounces " when he does not follow suit to the 
card led ; he "renounces in error " when, although holding one or 
.more cards of the suit led, he plays a card of a different suit; if 
such renounce in error is not lawfully corrected it constitutes a 
" revoke." 

(h) A card is " played "whenever, in the course of play, it is 
placed or dropped face upwards on the table. 

(i) A trick is " turned and quitted " when all four players have 
turned and quitted their respective cards. 

LAW I. — Shuffling. 

Sec. i. Before the cards are dealt they must be shuffled in the 
presence of an adversary or the umpire. 

Sec. 2. The pack must not be so shuffled as to expose the face 
of any card ; if a card is so exposed the pack must be reshuffled. 

LAW II. — Cutting for the Trump. 

Sec. I. The dealer must present the cards to his right hand 
adversary to be cut; such adversary must take from the top of the 
pack at least four cards and place them toward the dealer, leaving 
at least four cards in the remaining packet ; the dealer must reunite 
the packets by placing the one not removed in cutting upon the 
other. If, in cutting or in reuniting the separate packets, a card is 
exposed, the pack must be reshuffled and cut again ; if there is any 
confusion of the cards or doubt as to the place where the pack was 
separated, there must be a new cut. 

LAW III. — Dealing. 

Sec. i. When the pack has been properly cut and reunited, the 
cards must be dealt, one at a time, face down, from the top of the 
pack, the first to the player at the left of the dealer, and each suc- 
cessive card to the player at the left of the one to whom the last 
preceding card has been dealt. The last, which is the trump card, 
must be turned and placed face up on the tray, if one is used ; other- 
wise, at the right of the dealer. 



54 (Whist.) DUPLICATE LAWS. 

Sec. 2. There must be a new deal — 

(a) If any card except the last is faced or exposed in any way in 
dealing , 

(b) If the pack is proved incorrect or imperfect ; 

(c) If either more or less than thirteen cards are dealt to any 
player ; 

(d) If, after the first trick has been turned and quitted on the 
original play of a deal, one or more cards are found to have been 
left in the tray. 

LAW IV. — The Trump Card. 

Sec. i. The trump card and the number of the deal must be 
recorded, before the play begins, on a slip provided for that pur- 
pose, and must not be elsewhere recorded. Such slip must be 
shown to an adversary, then turned face down and placed in the 
tray, if one is used. 

Sec. 2. The dealer must leave the trump card face up until it 
is his turn to play to the first trick ; he must take the trump card 
into his hand and turn down the trump slip before the second trick 
is turned and quitted. 

Sec. 3. When a deal is taken up for overplay, the dealer must 
show the trump slip to an adversary, and thereafter the trump slip 
and trump card shall be treated as in the case of an original deal. 

Sec. 4. After the trump card has been lawfully taken into the 
hand and the trump slip turned face down, the trump card must not 
be named nor the trump slip examined during the play of the deal ; 
a player may, 'however, ask what the trump suit is. 

Sec. 5. If a player unlawfully looks at the trump slip, his 
highest or lowest trump may be called; if a player unlawfully names 
the trump card, or unlawfully shows the trump slip to his partner, 
his partner's highest or lowest trump may be called. 

Sec. 6. These penalties can be inflicted by either adversary at 
any time during the play of the deal in which they are incurred be- 
fore the player from whom the call can be made has played to the 
current trick; the call may be repeated at each or any trick until 
the card is played, but cannot be changed. 

Sec. 7. When a deal has been played the cards of the respec- 
tive players, including the trump card, must be placed in the tray 
face down and the trump slip placed face up on top of the dealer's 
cards. 

Sec. 8. If on the overplay of a deal, the dealer turns a trump 
card other than the one recorded on the trump slip, and such error is 
discovered and corrected before the play of the deal is commenced, 
the card turned in error is liable to be called. 

Sec. 9. If such error is not corrected until after the overplay 
has begun and more than two tables are engaged in play, the 



DUPLICATE LAWS. (Whist.) 55 

players at that table shall take the average score for the deal ; if 
less than three tables are in play there must be a new deal. 

Sec. io. Should a player record on the trump slip a different 
trump from one turned in dealing and the error be discovered at 
the next table, there must be a new deal. If the deal has been 
played at one or more tables with the wrong trump, the recorded 
trump must be taken as correct and the players at the original table 
take the average score for the deal ; if less than three tables are in 
play, there must be a new deal. 

Sec. ii. By the unanimous consent of the players in any match, 
a trump suit may be declared and no trump turned. 

LAW V. — Irregularities in the Hand. 

Sec. i. If, on the overplay, a player is found to have more than 
his correct number of cards or the trump card is not in the dealer's 
hand, or any card except the trump card is so faced as to expose 
any of the printing on its face, and less than three tables are en- 
gaged, there must be a new deal. If more than two tables are in 
play, the hands must be rectified and then passed to the next table ; 
the table at which the error was discovered must not overplay the 
deal' but shall take the average score. 

Sec. 2. If after the first trick has been turned and quitted on 
the overplay of a deal, a player is found to have less than his cor- 
rect number of cards, and the others have their correct number, 
such player shall be answerable for the missing card or cards and 
for any revoke or revokes which he has made by reason of its or 
their absence. 



LAW VI. — Playing, Turning and Quitting the Cards. 

Sec. i. Each player when it is his turn to play, must place his 
card face up before him and towards the center of the table and 
aiiow it to remain in this position until all have played to the trick, 
when he must turn it over and place its face down and nearer to 
himself, placing each successive card as he turns it, so that it over- 
laps the last card played by him and with the ends towards the win- 
ners of the trick. After he has played his card and also after he 
has turned it, he must quit it by removing his hand. 

Sec. 2. The cards must be left in the order in which they were 
played and quitted until the scores for the deal are recorded. 

Sec. 3. During the play of a deal a player must not pick up or 
turn another player's card. 

Sec. 4. Before a trick is turned and quitted any player may re- 
quire any of the other players to show the face of the card played 
to that trick. 



56 (Whist.) DUPLICATE LAWS. 

Sec. 5. If a player names a card of a trick which has been 
turned and quitted or turns or raises any such card so that any por- 
tion of its face can be seen by himself or his partner he is liable to 
the same penalty as if he had led out of turn. 

LAW VII. — Cards Liable to be Called. 

Sec. 1. The following cards are liable to to be called : 

(a) Every card so placed upon the table as to expose any of the 
printing on its face, except such cards as these laws specifically 
provide, shall not be so liable. 

(b) Every card so held by a player as to expose any of the print- 
ing on its face to his partner or to both of his adversaries at the 
same time. 

{c) Every card, except the trump card, named by the player 
holding it. t 

Sec. 2. If a player says, " I can win the rest," " The rest are 
ours," " It makes no difference how you play, 1 ' or words to that 
effect, or if he plays or exposes his remaining cards before his part- 
ner has played to the current trick, his partner's cards must be laid 
face up on the table and are liable to be called. 

Sec. 3. All cards liable to be called must be placed face up on 
the table and so left until played. A player must lead or play them 
when lawfully called, provided he can do so without revoking; the 
call may be repeated at each or any trick until the card is played. 
A player cannot, however, be prevented from leading or playing a 
card liable to be called ; if he can get rid of it in the course of a 
play no penalty remains. 

Sec. 4. The holder of a card liable to be called can be required 
to play it only by the adversary on his right. If such adversary 
plays without calling it, the holder may play to that trick as he 
pleases. If it is the holder's turn to lead, the card must be called 
before the preceding trick has been turned and quitted, or before 
the holder has led a different card'; otherwise he may lead as he 
pleases. 

LAW VIII. — Leading out of Turn. 

Sec. 1. If a player leads when it is the turn of an adversary to 
lead, and the error is discovered before all have played to such 
lead, a suit may be called from him or from his partner, as the 
case may be, ithe first time thereafter it is the right of either of 
them to lead. The penalty can be enforced only by the adversary 
on the right of the one from whom a lead can lawfully be called, 
and the right thereto is lost unless such adversary calls the suit 
he desires led before the first trick won by the offender or his 
partner subsequent to the offence is turned and quitted. 

Sec. 2. If a player leads when it is his partner's turn and the error 
is discovered before all have played to such lead, a suit may at once 
be called from the proper leader by his right-hand adversary. 



DUPLICATE LAWS. (Whist.) 57 

Until the penalty has been exacted, waived or forfeited, the 
proper leader must not lead; should he so lead, the card led by 
him is liable to be called. 

Sec. 3. If a player when called on to lead a suit has none of 
it, he may lead as he pleases. 

Sec. 4. If all have not played to a lead out of turn when the 
error is discovered, the card erroneously led and all cards played 
to such lead are not liable to be called, and must be taken into 
the hand. 

LAW IX.— Playing out of Turn. 

Sec. 1. If the third hand plays before the second, the fourth 
hand may also play before the second. 

Sec. 2. If the third hand has not played and the fourth hand 
plays before the second, the latter may be called upon by the third 
hand to play his highest or lowest card of the suit led, and, if he 
has none of that suit, to trump or not trump the trick; the pen- 
alty cannot be inflicted after the third hand has played to the 
trick. If the player liable to this penalty plays before it has been 
inflicted, waived or lost, the card so played is liable to be called. 

LAW X.— The Revoke. 

Sec. 1. A renounce in error may be corrected by the player 
making it, except in the -following cases, in which a revoke is 
esablished and the penalty therefor incurred: 

(a) When the trick in which it occurs has been turned and 
quitted. 

(b) When the renouncing player or his partner, whether in his 
right turn or otherwise, has led or played to the following trick. 

Sec. 2. At any time before the trick is turned and quitted a 
player may ask an adversary if he has any of a suit, to which such 
adversary has renounced in that trick, and can require the error 
to be corrected in case such adversary is found to have any of 
such suit. 

Sec. 3. If a player, who has renounced in error, lawfully 
corrects his mistake, the card improperly played by him is liable 
to be called, and, if he be the second or third hand player and his 
left hand adversary has played to the trick before attention has 
been called to the renounce, he may be required by such ad- 
versary to play his highest or his lowest card to the trick in 
which he has renounced, and shall not play to that trick until 
such adversary has inflicted or waived the penalty. Any player 
who has played to the trick after the renouncing player, may 
withdraw his card and substitute another; a card so withdraw- 
is not liable to be called. 

Sec. 4. The penalty for a revoke is the transfer of two tricks 



58 (Whist.) DUPLICATE LAW 8. ' 

from the revoking side to their adversaries. If more than one 
revoke during the play of a deal is made by one side, the penalty 
for each revoke, after the first, is the transfer of one trick only. 
The revoking players cannot score more, nor their adversaries 
less than the average on the deal in which the revoke occurs; 
except that in no case shall the infliction of the revoke penalty 
deprive the revoking players of any tricks won by them before 
their first revoke occurs. 

In Pair Matches the score shall be recorded as made, in- 
dependently of the revoke penalty, which shall be separately in- 
dicated as plus or minus revoke ("— R" for the revoking side, 
and "+R" for their adversaries). In such matches, the penalty 
for a revoke shall not increase the score of the opponents of the 
revoking players above the maximum, as made at the other 
tables, on the deal in which the revoke occurs; provided, how- 
ever, that if the opponents win more tricks than such maximum, 
independently of the revoke penalty, their score shall stand as 
made. Nor shall the score of the revoking players be reduced, 
by the infliction of the revoke penalty, below the minimum so 
made at the other tables until the averages for the match and 
the relative scores of the other players have been determined; 
the score of the revoking players shall then, if necessary, be 
further reduced, so that in all cases they shall suffer the full 
penalty as provided in the first paragraph of this section. 

Sec. 5. A revoke cannot be claimed if the claimant or his 
partner has played to the following deal, or if both have left 
the table at which the revoke occurred. If the revoke is dis- 
covered in season, the penalty must be enforced and cannot be 
waived. 

Sec. 6. At the end of the play of a deal the claimants of a 
revoke can examine all of the cards; if any hand has been 
s" afifled the claim may be urged and proved if possible ; but no 
proof is necessary and the revoke is established if, after it has 
been claimed, the accused player or his partner disturbs the 
order of the cards before they have been examined to the satis- 
faction of the adversaries. 

LAW XL — Miscellaneous. 

Sec. 1. If any one calls attention in any manner to the trick 
before his partner has played thereto, the adversary last to play 
to the trick may require the offender's partner to play his high- 
est or lowest of the suit led, and, if he has none of that suit, to 
trump or not to trump the trick. 

Sec 2. A player has the right to remind his partner that it is 
his privilege to enforce a penalty and also to inform him of the 
penalty he can enforce. 

Sec. 3. A player has the right to prevent his partner from 



DUPLICATE LAWS. (Whist.) 59 

committing any irregularity, and for that purpose, nay ask his 
partner whether or not he has a card of a suit to which he has 
renounced on a trick which has not been turned and quitted. 

Sec. 4. If either of the adversaries, whether with or with- 
out his partner's consent, demands a penalty to which they are 
entitled, such decision is final; if the wrong adversary demands 
a penalty or a wrong penalty is demanded, or either adversary 
waives a penalty, none can be enforced except in case of a revoke. 

Sec. 5. If a player is lawfully called upon to play the Lighest 
or lowest of a suit, to trump or not to trump a trick, to lead a 
suit or to win a trick, and unnecessarily fails to oomply, he is 
liable to the same penalty as if he had revoked. 

Sec. 6. If any one leads or plays a card, and then, before his 
partner has played to the trick, leads one or more other cards, 
or plays two or more cards together, all of which are better 
than any of his adversaries hold of the suit, his partner may be 
called upon by either adversary to win the first or any subsequent 
trick to which any of said cards are played, and the remaining 
qards so played are liable to be called. 

For the Rules of Etiquette of Duplicate Whist, see page 85. 

SINGLE TABLE, OR MNEMONIC DUPLICATE. 

The laws of Duplicate Whist govern where applicable, except 
as follows: 

Each player plays each deal twice, the second time playing a 
hand previously played by an adversary. Instead of turning the 
trump, a single suit may be declared trumps for the game. On 
the overplay, the cards may be gathered into tricks instead of 
playing them as required by law (Law VIII, Sec. 1). In case 
of the discovery of an irregularity in the hands, there must al- 
ways be a new deal. 

MNEMONIC DUPLICATE FOR MORE THAN ONE TABLE. 

Except a contest played in comparison with a progressive 
match, the replaying of the cards by the same players — "up and 
back," as it is sometimes called — is the only possible method of 
approximating to Duplicate Whist for one table; but where 
eight or more players participate, this form of the game is ex- 
tremely undesirable, from the element of memory entering into 
the replay and destroying the integrity of the game and its 
value as a test of Whist skill. It has been well described as "a 
mongrel game — partly Whist and partly Dummy, but lacking in 
the best features of each." 

In the early days of Duplicate Whist, Mnemonic Duplicate 
was, to some extent, played even when several tables of players 
were participating. It still survives in a few circles, chiefly 
where Duplicate Whist has never been tried. It can be played un- 



<60 (Dummy.) DUMMY. 

der any of the Duplicate Whist schedules by playing them through 
twice — the second time with the North and South hands given 
to the East and West players, and vice versa. As each deal 
is played twice by each pair, double the time is required to 
play the same number of deals, as at Duplicate Whist. Allow- 
ance must be made for this in fixing the number of deals to 
be played. 

The Snow System of movement, where practicable, is prefer- 
able. Where the Howell pair system of movement is used, the 
scores do not require "equating", as they are equalised on the 
replay. Under other systems, only the North and South scores 
need be kept, as the comparison can be made quite as readily 
as by direct comparison of these scores. 



DUMMY. 

There are three forms of Dummy : The English game, for 
three players ; the French game, for three or four ; and the game 
now generally known as Bridge, or Bridge Whist. Dummy is 
not recognized in any form by the American Whist League, and 
there are no American Laws governing it. We shall describe 
each variety of the game in its turn ; beginning with the English. 

Cards. ENGLISH DUMMY, is played with a full pack 
of fifty-two cards, ranking as at whist both for cutting and playing. 
Two packs are generally used. 

Markers are necessary, and are of the same patterns as those 
used in whist. 

Players. According to the English usage, Dummy is played 
by three persons, and the table is complete with that number. 

They cut for partners and for the deal ; the player cutting the 
lowest card takes dummy for the first rubber ; the one cutting the 
next lowest takes dummy for the second rubber ; and the one 
cutting the highest takes it for the last rubber. It is considered 
obligatory to play three rubbers, in order that each may have 
whatever advantage or disadvantage may be supposed to attach 
to the dummy. The three rubbers so played are called a Tournee. 
It is sometimes agreed that one player shall take dummy continu- 
ously, on condition that he concedes to his adversaries one point 
in each rubber. When this is done, the largest rubber that the 
dummy's partner can win is one of seven \ and he may win 



ENGLISH DUMMY. 



(Dummy.) 61 



nothing ; whereas his adversaries may win a rubber of nine, and 
must win at least two. This concession of a point is not made, as 
many imagine, because it is an advantage to have the (dummy) 
partner's hand exposed ; but because it is an advantage to have 
the player's hand concealed. He knows the collective contents of 
the adversaries' hands ; each of them knows only the contents of 
dummy's hand and his own. 

Cutting. The player cutting the lowest card has the choice of 

seats and cards ; but he must deal the first hand for his dummy ; 

. not for himself. The methods of spreading, cutting, deciding ties, 

etc., described in connection with whist, are those employed in 

dummy. 

Position, of the Players. The players are distinguished, as 
at whist, by the two first and last letters of the alphabet, and their 
positions at the table are indicated in the same manner. There is 
no mark to distinguish the dummy hand ; a defect which is reme- 
died in the French system. 

Dealing. At the beginning of a rubber, dummy's partner 
presents the pack to his left-hand, adversary to be cut, and deals 
from right to left, beginning with the player on his right, and turn- 
ing up the last card for dummy's trump. When two packs are 
used, there is no rule as to which player shall collect and shuffle 
the still pack. On this point the French rules are very explicit. 

The general rules with regard to irregularities in the deal are 
the same as at whist. 

The cards having been dealt, it is usual for dummy's partner io 
take up and sort the dummy first. There are several ways of 
laying out dummy's hand; the most common being to run the 
suits down in rows, with the turn-up across and to the right of tha 
other trumps, if any. 



<2L 




« <3 
•0 <3 

« <3 <3 



TbumPj 



Method of Spreading Dummy's Cards. 



Stakes. The remarks made on this subject in connection with" 
whist apply equally to dummy. Dummy's partner must pay to, 
or receive from each adversary the amount agreed. 
i Method of Playing. The general method of playing is 
identical with that of whist, with the following exceptions : — 

When it is dummy's turn to play, his partner selects the card. 



62 (Dummy.) ENGLISH DUMMY. 

The Hevoke* For this dummy is not liable to any penalty, as 
his adversaries can see his cards. Even should the revoke be 
occasioned by dummy's cards being disarranged, or one of them 
covered up, the adversaries should be as able to detect the error as 
the partner. Should dummy's hand revoke, it cannot be remedied 
after the trick in which it occurs has been turned and quitted ; 
and the game must proceed as if no revoke had occurred. All the 
penalties for a revoke may be enforced against dummy's partner, 
should he renounce in error, and not correct it in time. There 
being no American laws for dummy, the English penalty of three 
tricks or three points may be enforced, and the revoking player 
cannot win the game that hand. 

Cards Played in Error, Dummy's partner is not liable to 
any penalty for cards dropped face upwards on the table, or two or 
more played at once, because it is obvious that Dummy cannot 
gain any advantage from such exposed cards. 

Leading out of Turn, Should either dummy or his partner 
lead out of turn, the adversaries may call a suit from the one that 
should have led. It should be noticed that if it was not the turn 
of either to lead, there is no penalty ; for neither can have gained 
any advantage from knowing what suit the other wished to lead, 
or from the exposed card. Should all have played to the errone- 
ous lead, the error cannot be corrected, and no penalty remains. 

The methods of Taking Tricks; Scoring ; Claiming and 
Counting Honours; Marking Mubber Points, etc., are the 
same as in whist, and the counters are used in the same manner. 

Cutting Out, As already observed, there is no change of 
partners, or of the rotation of the deal, until the completion of a 
rubber ; but at the beginning of each rubber, dummy must deal 
the first hand. Should one side win the first two games in any 
rubber, the third is not played. At the end of the tournee, should 
any player wish to retire, and another offer to take his place, the 
cards must be shuffled and cut as at the beginning; a player's 
position in one tournee giving him no rights in the next. There is 
nothing in the English game to recognize that there may be more 
than three candidates for dummy ; as it is supposed that if four 
were present, they would prefer playing whist. 

Suggestions for Good Play, As these are equally proper 
to any form of dummy, we shall postpone their consideration until 
we have described the other varieties of the game ; French dummy, 
and Bridge ; giving them all at the end of the chapter on " Bridge." 



(Dummy.) 63 

DOUBLE DUMMY. 

CARDS, Double Dummy is played with a full pack of fifty- 
two cards, ranking as at whist both for cutting and playing. Two 
packs are generally used. 

MARKERS are necessary, and are of the same description 
as those used in whist. 

PLAYERS. According to the English usage, double dummy 
' is played by two persons, and the table is complete with that 
number. 

CUTTING. The players cut for the deal ; the player cutting 
the lowest card deals for his dummy first, and has the choice of 
sitting to the right or left of his opponent. It is usual to select 
the seat on the right of the living player, because it is possible 
that one may forget whether or not certain cards have been played, 
and under such circumstances it is better to lead up to an exposed 
hand than to one whose contents you are not sure of. 

The methods of spreading, cutting, deciding ties, etc., are the 
same as those employed at whist. 

POSITION OF THE PLAYERS. It is not usually 
considered necessary to distinguish the players further than to in- 
dicate w r hich hand had the original lead. For this purpose the 
whist notation is used, A being the leader, and Z the dealer. 



ORIGINAL LEADER, A 



z 

DEALING. When two packs are used, the still pack should 
be shuffled by the non-dealer, and placed on the left of the player 
or dummy whose turn it will be to deal next. 

The general rules with regard to irregularities in the deal are 
the same as in whist. 

The cards being dealt, it is usual to sort the dummy hands first, 
funning the suits down in rows, with the turn-up trump across, 
and to the right of the others. 

STAKES. The remarks already made on this subject in con- 
nection with whist and dummy, apply equally to double dummy, 
except that there is no double payment ; but each player wins 
from or loses to his living adversary the unit agreed upon. 

METHOD OF PLAYING. This so closely resembles 
dummy as to need no further description. Neither dummy can 
revoke, and there are no such things as exposed cards, or cards 



64 (Dummy.) DOUBLE DUMMY. 

played in error. It is very common for one player to claim that 
he will win a certain number of tricks, and for his adversary to 
admit it, and allow him to score them, without playing the hand 
out. 

LEADING OUT OF TURN. Should either of the 
dummies or the players lead out of turn, the adversary may call a 
suit from the one that ought to have led ; but if it was the turn of 
neither, there is no penalty. If all four have played to the trick, 
the error cannot be corrected, and no penalty remains. 

The methods of Taking Tricks ; Scoring ; Claiming and 
Counting Honours ; Marking Rubber Points, etc., are the 
same as in whist, and the counters are used in the same manner. 

RUBBERS* If the first two games are won by the same 
player and his dummy, the third is not played. Tournees are not 
played, and the completion of the rubber breaks up the table. 

CUTTING IN. The table being complete with two, at the 
end of a rubber a new table must be formed. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD PLAT. The player 
should first carefully examine the exposed hands, and by compar- 
ing them with his own, suit by suit, should fix in his mind the 
cards held by his living adversary. This takes time, and in many 
places it is the custom to expose the four hands upon the table. 
Players who have better memories than their opponents object to 
this, for the same reason that they prefer sitting on the right of the 
living player. It is not at all uncommon for a player to forget that 
certain cards have been played, to his very serious loss. 

The hands once fixed in the mind, some time should be given to 
a careful consideration of the best course to pursue ; after which 
the play should proceed pretty rapidly until the last few tricks, 
when another problem may present itself. 

There is nothing in the game beyond the skilful use of the tenace 
position, discarding, and establishing cross-ruffs. Analysis is the 
mental power chiefly engaged. There are no such things as in- 
ferences, false cards, finesse, underplay, speculative trump leads, or 
judgment of human nature. The practice of the game is totally 
different from any other form of whist, and much more closely re- 
sembles chess. 

The laws of Dummy will be found at the end of the English 
Whist Laws. 



HUMBUG WHIST. 

This is a variation of double dummy, in which two players sit 
opposite each other. The deal and seats are cut for in the usual 



GOOD PLAY. (Humbug Whist.) 65 

manner ; four hands of thirteen cards each are dealt, and the last 
card is turned for trump. 

Each player examines the hand dealt to him, without touching 
those to his right or left. If he is content with his hand, he an- 
nounces it ; if not, he may exchange it for the one on his right. In 
case of exchange, the discarded hand is placed on the table face 
down ; and the other taken up and played. If a player retains the 
hand originally dealt him, he must not look at the others. If the 
dealer exchanges, he loses the turn-up card, but the trump suit re- 
mains the same. Each player deals for himself in turn, there 
being no deal for the dead hands. Whist laws govern the deaL 
and its errors. 

METHOD OF PLATING. The dealer's adversary has 
the first lead ; the other must follow suit if he can, and the highest 
card of the suit led wins the trick. Trumps win all other suits. 

SCOURING* Each trick above six counts one point towards 
game. Of the four honours, A K Q J of trumps, if each player 
holds two, neither can count. But if one player has only one 
honour, or none, the other counts 2 points for two honours, if he- 
holds them ; 3 points for three ; and 4 points for four. The hon- 
ours count towards game as in whist. The penalty for a revoke is 
three tricks, and it takes precedence of other scores ; tricks count 
next, honours last. Five points is game. 

SUGGESTIONS FOB GOOD FLAT. It is consid- 
ered best for a player not finding four reasonably sure tricks in his 
hand to exchange ; for there is a certain advantage to be gained by 
knowing thirteen cards which cannot be in ttte adversary's hand. 
Before changing, the player should fix in his memory the exact 
cards of each suit in the hand which he is about to discard. By 
combining his knowledge of them with his own cards, he may 
often be able to direct his play to advantage. Beyond this there is 
little skill in the game. 

A variation is sometimes made by the dealer announcing a 
trump suit after he has examined his hand, instead of turning up 
the last card. His adversary then has the right either to play his 
hand, or to exchange it for the one on his right ; but the dealer 
twist play the hand dealt to him. 



THIRTEEN AND THE ODD. 

This is Humbug Whist without the discard. The dealer gives 
thirteen cards to his adversary and to himself, one at a time, and 
tunes up the next for the trump. The trump card belongs to neither 
player. The winner of the odd trick scores a point. Five points is 
game. 



66 (Mort.) 

MORT. 

WHIST A TROIS; OR FRENCH DUMMY. 

MORT means simply the dead hand ; and is the equivalent of 
the English word Dummy ; the partner being known as Vivant, 
or the living hand. In these words the English usually sound the 
t 9 as they do in such words as piquet, and valet, 

CARDS. Mort is played with a full pack of fifty-two cards, 
ranking as at whist for cutting and playing. Two packs are gen- 
erally used. 

MARKERS are necessary to count the game points only. 
Four circular counters for each side, preferably of different colours, 
are employed, or the ordinary whist markers may be used. At 
the end of each game, the score of the points won or lost by each 
player must be transferred to a score-sheet, kept for that purpose. 

PLAYERS. Mort is played by three persons; but the table 
is usually composed of four. If there are more than four candi- 
dates, the methods described in connection with whist are adopted 
for deciding which four shall play the first tournee. 

The table being formed, the cards are again shuffled and spread 
to cut for partners and deal. 

TIES are decided in the same manner as at whist. 

CUTTING. If there are three players, the one cutting the 
lowest card takes dummy for the first game ; he also has the 
choice of seats and cards, and may deal the first hand for himself 
or for Mort, as he pleases ; but having once made his choice, he 
must abide by it. The player cutting the intermediate card takes 
dummy for the second game ; and the player cutting the highest 
card takes it for the third game ; each in turn having the choice 
of seats and cards. These three games finish the rubber of 
tournee, each having once had the advantage or disadvantage of 
playing with Mort. It is obligatory to finish the tournee, no player 
being allowed to withdraw and substitute another without the con- 
sent of the other players. In Mort it is very unusual for one per- 
son to take dummy continuously. 

If there are four players, the one cutting the highest card of the 
four sits out, and takes no part in the first game. It is customary 
for him to take Mort's seat, and to make himself useful in sorting 
dummy's cards for him. He plays in the three following games, 
taking Mort in the fourth, or last. Four games complete the tour- 
nee for four players. 

POSITION OF THE PLATERS. The players or 
hands are distinguished by the letters, M, V, L, and R ; which 
stand respectively for Mort, Vivant, Left, and Right. The Mort 
»V\tfes dead hand, which is turned face up on the table. The Vi- 



PLAYERS' POSITIONS. 



(Mort.) 67 



vant is his partner, who sits opposite him, and plays his cards for 
him. The Left and Right are the adversaries who sit on the 
left and right of Mort. 

Special attention must be called to the use of the term adver- 
saries in any description of Mort. It is used exclusively to desig- 
nate the two partners opposed to the Mort and Vivant. In all 
other cases where opposition is implied, the term opponents 
must be used. 

When necessary to distinguish the dealer from the first, second, 
or third hand, it is usual to add the letters employed for that pur- 
pose in whist ; placing them inside the diagram of the table, thus : — 




This diagram shows that Vivant dealt, and that the adversary 
on the Right of Mort had the original lead. 

With Three Players. Vivant having selected his seat and 
cards, the adversaries may select their seats. It is usual for the 
strongest adversary to sit Right. 

With Four Players, we can best describe the arrangement 
by numbering them 1,2, 3, and 4, respectively, the lowest number, 
1, having cut the lowest card, and the others having the right to 
play Vivant in their numerical order. The initial arrangement 
would be as follows : — 

4 4 




or this :— 



Mort. 
Vivant. 



1 1 

For the three succeeding games the arrangement would be : — 
1 2 3 



3 



Mort. 
Vivant. 



Mort. 
Vivant. 




2 3 4 

It will be seen that each player, immediately after being Vivant, 
sits out, or takes Mort's place, for the next game. 

DEALING. It is usual for Vivant to deal the first hand for 
himself, as the disadvantage of exposing fourteen cards is more 



68 (Mort,) DEALING. 

than compensated for in compelling the adversary to open the 
game by leading up to an unknown hand. If Vivant deals the 
first hand for Mort, he must present the pack to the player on 
dummy's right to be cut, and deal the cards from right to left, 
turning up the trump at Mort's place. If he deals for himself, 
he presents the pack to the pone to be cut, and proceeds as in 
whist. 

When two packs are used, the French laws require that if the 
deal is for Mort, the Right shall gather and shuffle the still pack ; 
and that if Vivant deals for himself, the pone shall gather and 
shuffle. I have found this to be awkward, because the player who 
is gathering and shuffling the cards of one pack is called upon to 
cut the other. For this reason I recommend that whichever 
adversary is the pone for the deal in hands should allow his part- 
ner to gather and shuffle the still pack. When either adversary 
deals, his partner will, of course, gather and shuffle the still pack. 

The general rules with regard to irregularities in the deal are 
the same as at whist, with the following exceptions : — 

A misdeal does not lose the deal unless the opponents so elect ; 
they may prefer anew deal by the same dealer. The reason for 
this is that the deal is a disadvantage, especially for Mort. 

If Vivant or Mort offers the pack to one adversary to cut, and 
then deals as if the other had cut, it is a misdeal ; and it is not 
admissible to shift the packets in order to remedy matters. 

It might be imagined that a card exposed in dealing, if dealt to 
Mort, would make no difference, as all his cards will presently be 
exposed. But the laws give the opponents of the dealer the option 
of either allowing the deal to stand, or having a new deal, or call- 
ing it a misdeal. 

According to the French laws, if there is any discussion in prog- 
ress with regard to the previous hand or play, the dealer may 
lay aside the trump card, face down, until the discussion is fin- 
ished. If this law prevailed in America, I think the trump would 
very seldom be turned immediately. 

STAKES* In Mort the stake is a unit, so much a point. It 
may assist players in regulating the value of the stake to remem- 
ber that six is the smallest number of points that can be won or 
lost on a single game, and that thirty-seven is probably the highest, 
although fifty, or even a hundred is not impossible. The average 
is about twelve. The same customs as at whist prevail with re- 
gard to outside bettjng. 

The Vivant must pay or receive double, as he has to settle with 
each adversary. If four play, the one sitting out has nothing to do 
with the stakes ; but he may make outside wagers on the result of 
the game. 

THE METHOD OF PLATING is practically the same 
as at whist, with the following exceptions : — 



METHOD OF PLAYING. (Mort.) 69 

When it is the turn of Mort to play, Vivant selects the card fof 
him. 

The Mevoke. The* rules governing this are the same as those 
already given for English Dummy. Mort is not liable to penalty 
under any circumstances. If any other player revokes, his oppo- 
nents may take three points from the score of his side ; or add three 
points to thoir score ; or take three of his tricks. The penalty 
cannot be divided ; but if two or more revokes are made by the 
same side, the penalty for each may be enforced in a different 
manner. For instance : If the score is 3 to 2 in favor of the adver- 
saries, Vivant may take three points from their score for one revoke, 
and add three to his own score for the other. It is not permis- 
sible to reduce the revoking player's tricks to nothing. At least 
one must be left in order to prevent slams being made through 
revoke penalties. 

Cards Played in Error. Vivant is not liable to any pen- 
alty for dropping his cards face up on the table ; but if he or Mort 
plays two cards at once to a trick, the adversaries may select 
which they will allow to be played. The adversaries are subject 
to the same penalties as in whist for all cards played in error. 

Leading Out of Turn. If Vivant or Mort lead out of turn, 
the adversaries may let the lead stand, or demand it be taken back. 
If it was the turn of neither, no penalty can be enforced, and if 
all have played to the trick, the error cannot be corrected. 

Taking Tricks. The methods of taking tricks, and placing 
them so that they can be easily counted, have been fully described 
in connection with whist. 

OBJECT OF THE GAME. As in whist, the object is to 
take tricks; the highest card played of the suit led wins, and 
trumps win against all other suits. The first six tricks taken by one 
side, and forming a book, do not count ; but all above that number 
count toward game. At the end of each hand, the side that has 
taken any tricks in excess of the book scores them, their oppo- 
nents counting nothing. As soon as either side reaches five 
points, they win the game, but the concluding hand must be 
played out, and the winners are entitled to score all the points 
over five that they can make on that hand. For instance : The 
score is 4 to 3 in favor of Vivant and Mort. They win the first 
seven tricks, which makes them game ; but they do not cease 
playing. If they succeed in gaining eleven tricks out of the thir- 
teen, they win a game of 9 points, instead of 5. 

As already observed, Vivant loses or gains double the value of 
the points in each hand. In the three-handed game this must be 
so ; but in my opinion it would be a great improvement in the 
four-handed game to allow the player sitting out to share the 
fortunes of the Vivant, as in Bridge, and in many German games 
'Of cards, notably Skat. 



70 (Mort.) SCORING. 

SLAMS. The two great differences between French and 
English Dummy are that honours are not counted in Mort, and 
that a special value is attached to slams. A slam is made when 
one side takes the thirteen tricks. These must be actually won, 
and cannot be partly made up of tricks taken in penalty for re- 
vokes. Players cannot score a slam in a hand in which they have 
revoked. 

A slam counts 20 points to the side making it ; but these 20 
points have nothing to do with the game score. For instance : 
The score is 4 all. Vivant and Mort make a slam. This does 
not win the game ; but the 20 points are debited and credited on 
the score-sheet ; the deal passes to the left, and the game proceeds 
with the score still 4 all, as if nothing had happened. 

SCORING. The number of points won on each game are 
put down on the score-sheet, each side being credited with the 
number of points appearing on their markers when the game is 
finished. To the winners' score is added : 3 points, for a triple 
game, if their opponents have not scored ; 2 points, for a double 
game, if their opponents are not half way ; or 1 point, for a simple 
game, if their opponents are 3 or 4. In addition to this, the win- 
ners add 4 points, for bonus or consolation, in every instance. 
From the total thus found must be deducted whatever points 
have been scored by the losers, whether game points, slams, or 
both. For instance : Vivant and Mort win a game with the score 
8 to 2 in their favor, which is a double. This is put down on the 
score sheets thus :— 

8+2 for the double, + 4 consolation, — 14, minus 2 scored by 
the opponents; making 12 the net value of the game. Vivant 
therefore wins 24 points, and each of the adversaries, R and L, lose 
12. Again : — 

R and L win a simple with a score of 5 to 4, V and M having 
made a slam. 5 + 1 for the simple, +4 for consolation, = 10, 
minus 4 points scored, and 20 for the slam = 24 ; showing that R 
and ^ L lose 14 points each, although they won the game. 
Again : — 

V and M win a triple, with a score of 8 to o ; R and L having 
revoked. 8, + 3, -f-4, -f- 3 for the revoke = 18, from which there 
is nothing to deduct. 

The greatest number of points that can be made on a game, 
exclusive of slams and revokes, is 17 ; and the least number is 6. 

MARKING. The methods of using the counters in scoring 
the game points have already been described in connection 
with whist. 

CUTTING OUT. If there are more than four candidates 
for play at the conclusion of a tourne'e, the selection of the new 
table must be made as if no tourne'e had been played ; all having 
equal rights to cut in. 



CAYENNE, (Cayenne.) 71 

CHEATING, Mort offers even less opportunity to the greek 
than whist, as the deal is a disadvantage, and nothing is gained by 
turning up an honour, beyond its possession. 



CAYENNE, 

OR CAYENNE WHIST, 

CARHS. Cayenne is played with two full packs of fifty-two 
cards, which rank as at Whist, both for cutting and playing. 

MARKERS are necessary, and must be suitable for counting 
to ten points. A sheet of paper is used for scoring the results of 
the games. 

PLAYERS. Cayenne is played by four persons. When 
there are more than four candidates for play the selection of the 
table must be made as at Whist. Partners and deal are then cut for. 

CUTTING. One of the packs having been spread on the 
table, face down, each of the four players draws a card ; the two 
lowest pairing against the two highest. The lowest of the four is 
the dealer, and has the choice of seats and cards. Ties are de- 
cided in the same manner as at Whist. 

POSITION OF THE PLAYERS. The partners sit 
opposite each other, and the players are distinguished, as at Whist, 
by the letters A-B and Y-Z. Z is the dealer, and A has the 
original lead, 

HEALING. One pack of cards is snuffled and cut as at 
Whist. The dealer then gives four cards to each player, begin- 
ning on his left ; then four more, and finally five, no trump being 
turned. In many places six cards are first dealt to each player, 
and then seven ; but the 4-4-5 system is better, and is the rule in 
the very similar game of Boston. 

The general rules with regard to irregularities in the deal are the 
same as at Whist ; except that a misdeal does not lose the deal. 
The misdealer must deal again, and with the same pack. 

CAYENNE. After the cards are all dealt, the player to the 
left of the dealer cuts the still pack, which is shuffled and presented 
to him by the dealer's partner, and the top card of the portion left 
on the table is turned up for Cayenne. This card is not a trump, 
but is simply to determine the rank of the suits. 

STAKES. In Cayenne the stake is a unit, so much a point. 
The largest number of points possible to win on a rubber is 24, 
and the smallest, 1. The result of the rubber may be a tie, which 
we consider a defect in any game. In settling at the end of the 
rubber it is usual for the losers to pay their right-hand adversaries. 



72 (Cayenne.) MAKING THE TRUMP. 

MAKING THE TRUMP. The trump suit must be 
named by the dealer or his partner, after they have examined their 
cards. The dealer has the first say, and he may either select 
cayenne or any of the other suits ; Or he may announce grand, 
playing for the tricks without any trump suit ; or he may call nullo, 
playing to take as few tricks as possible, without a trump suit. If 
the dealer makes the choice, his partner must abide by it ; but if he 
has not a hand to justify him in deciding, he should leave the 
selection to his partner, who must decide one way or the other. 

The considerations which should guide players in their choice 
are the scoring possibilities of their hands, in tricks and in honours. 
As in Whist, the first six tricks taken by one side do not count ; 
but each trick above that number counts one, two, etc., by cards. 
There are five honours in the trump suit in Cayenne ; AKQJ 10 ; 
and the partners holding the majority of them count I for each 
honour that they hold in excess of their opponents, and I in addi- 
tion, for honours. For instance : If A-B have three honours 
dealt them, they must have one more than their adversaries, and i 
for honours ; entitling them to score 2. If they have four, they 
have 3 in excess, and 1 for honours, a total of 4. If they have 
five, they count 6 by honours. 

At the end of the hand the points made by cards and by honours 
are multiplied by the value of the trump suit. This value varies 
according to the suit which is cayenne, which is always first pref- 
erence. If cayenne is also the trump suit the points made by 
cards and honours are multiplied by 4. If the trump suit is the 
same colour as cayenne, the multiplier is 3. If it is a different 
colour the multiplier is 2 or 1, according to the suit. The rank of 
the suits as multipliers will be readily understood from the follow- 
ing table : — 

If Cayenne is <?<>*♦ If trumps, multiply by 4. 

Second color is S> ♦ * If trumps, multiply by 3. 

Third color is * * <5> S> If trumps, multiply by 2. 

Fourth color is ♦♦<><> If trumps, multiply by 1. 

Better to understand the importance of considering this variation 
in value when making the trump, it should be noticed that 
although the game is 10 points, several games may be won in a 
single hand, as everything made is counted, and any points over 
10 go to the credit of the second game. If more than 20 points 
are made, the excess goes on the third game, and so on. Another 
important point is the great value attached to honours, and the 
maker of the trump should never forget that he can better afford 
to risk his adversaries winning 2 by cards with a trump in which 
he has three honours, than he can to risk a trump in which they 
may have three honours, and he can probably win only the odd 
trick. . * ■ ' 



METHOD OF PLAYING. (Cayenne,) 73 

A further element may enter into his calculations, the state of 
the score. Tricks count before honours, and if he feels certain of 
making, by cards, the few points necessary to win the rubber, he 
may entirely disregard the honours. 

With such a hand it would be better to play without a trump, 
and to announce a grand, in which there are neither trumps 
nor honours, and every trick over the book is multiplied by 8. 
Two by cards at grand is worth more than two by cards and two 
by honours with any trump but cayenne. 

There is still another resource, to announce nuUo, in which there 
is no trump, and the object of the players is to take as few tricks 
as possible. In nullo, every trick over the book counts for the ad- 
versaries, and is multiplied by 8. A peculiarity of nullo is that the 
Ace of each suit ranks below the deuce, unless the player holding 
it wishes to declare it higher than the King. In the latter case he 
must announce it when he plays it, and before his left-hand ad- 
versary plays to the trick. 

If the dealer transfers the right of making the trump to his 
partner, he must use the phrase, " You make it, partner." If a 
player makes the trump out of turn, his adversaries may consult 
as to the propriety of demanding a new deal. 

METHOD OF FLAYING. The trump suit, grand, or 
nullo having been announced, the player on the dealer's left be- 
gins by leading any card he pleases, and the others must all - 
follow suit if they can. The penalty for a revoke is the loss of 
three tricks ; or the value of three tricks in points ; or the addition 
of a like amount to the adversaries' score. The side making a re- 
voke cannot win the game that hand, no matter what they score ; 
but they may play the hand out, and count all they make to within 
one point of game, or 9. Revoking players cannot count points 
for slams. 

The rules for cards played in error, leading out of turn, and all 
such irregularities, are the same as in Whist. The last trick turned 
and quitted may be seen. 

The methods of gathering and stacking the tricks is the same 
as at Whist. 

OBJECTS OF THE GAME. The chief object in Cay- 
enne, either with a trump or in a grand, is to take tricks ; in a 
nullo it is not to take them. In any case the highest card played 
of the suit led wins the trick, and trumps, if any, win against all 
other suits. At the end of each hand the side that wins any 
tricks in excess of the book scores them, after multiplying their 
number by the unit of value settled upon by the announcement 
If a nullo is played the adversaries score them. Honours are then 
claimed ; but the game cannot be won by honours alone, as at 
Whist ; those holding honours must stop at the score of 9, unless 
they also win the odd trick. As soon as either side reaches or 
passes 10 points, they win a game ; but the hand must be played 



74 (Cayenne.) 



SCORING. 



out, and all tricks taken must be counted. If one side goes out by 
cards, the other cannot score honours. Thirteen tricks taken by 
one side is called a slam,, and it counts 6 points. Twelve tricks is 
a little slant, and it counts 4. Either of these must be made 
exclusive of revoke penalties. 

M UBBEKS. The rubber is won by the side that first wins 
four games of ten points each ; and the winning side adds 8 points 
to its score. 

SCORING. The game score should be kept on a whist marker, 
using the four large keys on one side for single points, and the 
single large key on the opposite side for five points. The three 
small keys are used to show how many games of the rubber have 
been won by that side. 




Two Games Won, and 2 Points Scored on the Third. 

The method of using counters for scoring 10-point games has 
already been described in connection with Whist. 

In addition to either markers or counters, there must be a sheet 
of paper to keep the final results of the games. 

In scoring, the revoke penalty counts first, tricks next, and 
honours last. 

The side first reaching 10 points wins a quadruple, or game 
of 4, if their adversaries have not scored ; a triple, or game of 3, 
if their adversaries have not reached 4 ; a double, or game of 2, 
if the adversaries have not reached 7 ; and a single, or game of 
1, if their adversaries are 8 or 9 up. These game points are put 
down on the score-sheet, and all the points on the adversaries 9 
marker are then turned down. If the winners make any points in 
excess of 10, such points are left to their credit on the marker, 
and count toward the next game. For instance : The score is 
A-B, 6 ; and Y-Z, 8 ; shown on the markers thus : — 




A-B 6 Points. 



Y-Z 8 Points. 



SCORING. 



(Cayenne*) 75 



Let us suppose that Z announces cayenne, and makes 2 by 
cards ; A-B claiming two by honours. Y-Z multiply by 4, mak- 
ing them 8, and bringing their total score on the marker to 16; 
that is, a game, and 6 points to their credit on the second game. 
This must now be put down on the score-sheet. A-B's honours 
not counting, as Y-Z went out by cards, the game is a double ; 
A-B not having reached 7 points. The score and markers now 
stand : — 



A-B 

















Score : 
















Y-Z 


2 

















A-B's, Nothing. 



Y-Z's, 1 Game, 6 Points. 



Let us suppose A-B to announce grand on their deal, and to 
make four by cards, which, multiplied by 8, gives them 32 points ; 
that is, three games, and 2 points to their credit on the marker. 
The first of these games is a double, Y-Z having 6 points up. 
The two others are quadruples, put down on the score-sheet 
thus : — 



Score : 



A-B 





2 


4 


4 


t 






Y-Z 


2 



















A-B's, 3 Games, 2 Points. 



Y-Z's, 1 Game, o Points. 



In the next hand let us suppose clubs to be cayenne. Y deals, 
and plays in colour, spades. Y-Z win 6 by cards, and 4 by 
honours ; 10 points multiplied by 3, = 30. For this they score 



76 (Cayenne.) 



SCORING. 



three games, the first being a triple, and the others quadruples. 
These three games win the rubber, for which they add 8 points, 
and 4 points for the little slam. This is all put down on the 
score-sheet : — 



Score: 



A-B 


o 


2 


4 


4 


o 


o 


o 


Y-Z 


2 


O 


o 


o 


. 3 


4 


4 



= IO 



4=25 



Both scores being added up, the value of the rubber won by 
Y-Z is found to be 15, after deducting the 10 points made by 
A-B. 

CUTTING IN. If there are more than four persons belong- 
ing to the table, those waiting cut in, as at Whist. 

METHODS OF CHEATING. In all games in which the 
cards are dealt in bulk, four- or six at a time, there is more or less 
temptation for the greek to gather desirable cards in the pack, 
leaving them undisturbed in the shuffle If he can pick up two 
tricks of the previous deal with eight good cards of the same suit 
in them, by placing any tw r o tricks of other cards between them, 
and dealing six at a time, he can tell exactly how many of the 
eight located cards are in his partner's hand. For this reason a 
player who does not thoroughly shuffle the cards should be care- 
fully watched ; and an immediate protest should be made against 
any disarrangement of the tricks as they are taken in during the 
play, such as placing the last trick taken under the first. If the 
player doing this is to be the next dealer, any one observing the 
movement should insist upon his right to shuffle the cards 
thoroughly ; if not to leave the game. 

We are strongly opposed to dealing the cards in bulk at 
Cayenne, and see no reason why the methods that prevail in the 
very similar game of Bridge should not be adopted. 

SUGGESTIONS FOB, GOOD PLAY. There is little 
to add to the rules already given for Whist. The principles that 
should guide in the making of the trump have been given in con- 
nection with the more important game of Bridge ; and the sug- 
gestions for playing nullo will be fully discussed in the games in 
which it is a prominent characteristic : Solo Whist, and Boston. 
Grand is practically Whist after the trumps are exhausted. 

For the Laws of Cayenne, see Whist Family Laws. 



(Solo Whist.) 77 

SOLO WHIST, 

OR WHIST DE GAND. 

CARDS. Solo Whist is played with a full pack of fifty-two 
cards, which rank as at Whist, both for cutting and playing. Two 
packs are generally used, the one being shuffled while the other is 
dealt. 

MARKERS are not used in Solo Whist, every hand being a 
complete game in itself, w T hich is immediately settled for in 
counters representing money, At the beginning of the game each 
player should be provided with an equal number of these counters. 
They are usually white and red, the red being worth five times as 
much as the white. Twenty white and sixteen red is the usual 
allotment to each player when the game begins. Some one 
player should be the banker, to sell and redeem all counters. 

PLAYERS. Solo Whist is played by four persons. If there 
are five candidates for play, they all sit at the same table, each 
taking his turn to sit out for one hand while the four others play. 
The Sealer is usually selected to sit out. If there are only three 
players, one suit must be deleted from the pack, or the 2, 3, and 4 
of each suit must be thrown out. 

CUTTING. The table being formed, the players draw from 
an outspread for the deal, and choice of seats and cards. The 
player drawing the lowest card deals the first hand, and it is 
usual for him to dictate to the other players what seats they shall 
occupy with relation to himself. Ties are decided in the same 
manner as at Whist. 

POSITION OF THE PLATERS. The four players at 
Solo Whist are usually distinguished by the letters ABYZ. 



Z is the dealer, and A is known as the eldest hand. The 

position of the players does not imply any partnership ; for, as we 
shall see presently, any player may have any one of the others for 
a partner, without any change taking place in their positions at 
the table. 

The players having once taken their seats are not allowed to 
change them without the consent of all the others at the table. 



78 (Solo Whist) OBJECTS OF THE GAME. 

DEALING. The cards having been properly shuffled, are 
presented to the pone to be cut. Beginning on his left, the dealer 
distributes the cards three at a time, until only four remain. These 
he deals one at a time, turning up the last for the trump. When 
two packs are used, the player sitting opposite the dealer shuffles 
the still pack while the other is dealt. The deal passes in regular 
rotation to the left. 

When three play with a pack of forty cards, the last card is 
turned up for trumps, but it does not belong to the dealer, and is 
not used in play. 

The general rules with regard to irregularities in the deal are 
the same as at Whist ; except that a misdeal does not pass the 
deal. The misdealer must deal again, and with the same pack. 

The cards dealt, each player sorts and counts his hand to see that 
he has the correct number of cards, thirteen. If not, he should 
immediately claim a misdeal ; for a player having more or less 
than his right proportion of cards cannot win anything on that 
hand, but will have to stand his proportion of all losses incurred 
by him or his side. 

OBJECTS OF THE GAME. There are seven distinct 
objects in the Solo Whist, and before play begins each player has 
an opportunity of declaring to which of these objects he proposes 
to attain. They are :— • 

i st. To win 8 of the 13 tricks, with the assistance of a partner. 
This is called a Proposal ; the partner's share is an Accept- 
ance. 

2nd. To win 5 of the 13 tricks, against the three other players 
combined. This is called a Solo. 

3rd. To take no tricks, there being no trump suit, and the three 
other players being opposed. This is called Misere, or Nullo. 

4th. To win 9 of the 13 tricks against the three other players 
combined ; the single player to name the trump suit. This is 
called Abundance. 

5th. To win 9 of the 13 tricks against the three other players 
comhined, with the trump suit that is turned up. This is called 
Abundance in Trumps. 

6th. To take no tricks, there being no trump suit, and the three 
other players being opposed ; the single player's cards being ex- 
posed face up on the table after the first trick is complete. This 
is called Misere sur table, or A Spread. 

7th. To win all 13 tricks against the three other players com- 
bined ; the single player to name the trump suit, and to have the 
original lead whether eldest hand or not. This is called Abund- 
ance D6claree, or A Slam. 

While the object of the proposing player is to win or lose the 
declared number of tricks, that of his adversaries is to prevent him 
from doing so, if possible. There are no honours, and the only 



DECLARING. (Solo Whist.) 79 

factor in the count is the number of tricks actually taken. The 
highest card played of the suit led wins the trick, and trumps, if 
any, win against all other suits. 

METHOD OF DECLARING. The eldest hand has the 
first say, and after examining his cards he may make any of the 
several propositions just enumerated. The smallest proposal he 
can make is to take 8 tricks with the assistance of a partner. To 
do this he should have four reasonably sure tricks in his own hand. 
Some players say he should be strong in trumps ; while others 
claim that the eldest hand should propose only on general strength. 
The former is the better plan. No other player should propose on 
trumps alone. This announcement is made by saying : 6i I pro- 
pose." If a player thinks he can take five tricks against the com- 
bined efforts of the three other players, he announces : (i Solo." 
If he feels equal to a misere, he calls : " Misere ;" and so on, 
according to the strength of his hand. If he does not feel justified 
in making a call, he says : " I pass ; " and the next player on 
his left has the opportunity ; and so on, until some player has pro- 
posed to do something, or all have passed. 

If any player has proposed for a partner, any of the others, in 
their proper turn, may accept him by simply saying : 6i I accept." 
By so doing, a player intimates that he has four probable tricks 
also, but in the plain suits, and that he is willing to try for eight 
tricks with the proposer for a partner. All the other calls are 
made by a single player with the intention of playing against the 
three others. Any player except the eldest hand having once 
said, " I pass,'' cannot afterwards make or accept any proposal. 
The eldest hand, after passing once, can accept a proposal, but he 
cannot make one. 

It is the custom in some places, when no one will make a pro- 
posal of any sort, to turn down the trump, and play the hands 
without any trump suit, each man for himself ; the winner of the 
last trick losing to each of the others the value of a solo. This is 
called a Grand. 

BANK OF THE PKOFOSALS. The various calls 
outrank one another in the order in which we have given them. If 
one player says, " I propose," and another calls " Solo," the solo 
call shuts out the proposal, even though it has been accepted by a 
second player. The call of a misere would in turn shut out a solo ; 
abundance would take precedence of misere ; and abundance in 
trumps would be a better call than simple abundance. The slam 
of course outranks all other bids. This making of a better 
proposition than one already made is known as (< Over calling." 

A player who has made a call of any kind, or has accepted a 
proposal, may amend his proposition to a better one, only in case 
he is overcalled ; or a player who can not get a partner to accept 
him may. amend his call to solo. For instance: A player may 



80 (Solo Whist*) PA YMENIS. 

have a hand which he feels sure is good for 8 tricks, perhaps 9. 
To be safe, he calls solo, and hopes to make three or four over- 
tricks. If he is outbid by some player overcalling him with a 
misere, he may be tempted to amend his call to abundance. 

No call is good until every player who has not already passed 
does so, by saying distinctly, " I pass." 

STAKES. The losses and gains of the players are in propor- 
tion to the difficulties of the tasks they set themselves. 

The most popular method of settling is to pay or take red 
counters for the various calls, and white counters for the tricks 
under or over the exact number proposed. If the callers succeed 
in their undertakings, their adversaries pay them ; if they fail, they 
pay their adversaries. A red counter is worth five white ones. 

Proposal and Acceptance wins or loses 1 red counter. 

Solo wins or loses 2 red counters. 

Misere, or Nullo, wins or loses 3 red counters. 

Abundance, of any kind, wins or loses 4 red counters, 

Open Misere, or Spread, wins or loses 6 red counters. 

Declared Abundance, or Slam, wins or loses . . 8 red counters. 
Each Over or Under-trick wins or loses 1 white counter. 

In Proposal and Acceptance, each of the partners pays one of 
his adversaries. In all cases in which a single player is opposed 
to the three others, he wins or loses the amount shown in the 
foregoing table with each of them individually ; so that a single 
player calling a solo would win or lose 6 reel counters. If he lost 
it, making only four tricks, he would also have to pay to each of 
his three adversaries a white counter. If he won it, making seven 
tricks, each of them would have to pay him two red and two white 
counters. 

Miseres, Spreads, and Slams pay no odd tricks. The moment a 
Misere player takes a trick, or a Slam player loses one, the hands 
are abandoned, and the stakes paid. 

The usual value attached to the counters in America is 25 cents 
for the red, and 5 cents for the white. In England the proportion 
is sixpence and a penny. 

POOL SOLO. When players wish to enhance the gam- 
bling attractions of the game, a pool is introduced. For this pur- 
pose a receptacle is placed upon the table, in which each player 
puts a red counter at the beginning of the game. Any person 
playing alone against the three others, wins this pool if he is suc- 
cessful ; if he fails, he must double the amount it contains, be- 
sides paying each of his adversaries in the regular way. In some 
places it is the custom for each player to contribute a red counter 
when he deals. The proposals and acceptances do not touch the 
pool. 



METHOD OF PLAYING. (Solo Whist) 81 

METHOD OF FLA YING. If a proposal is accepted, and 
no one overcalls it, the proposer and acceptor are partners ; but 
make no change in their positions at the table. The eldest hand, 
sitting to the left of the dealer, begins by leading any card he 
pleases, and the play proceeds exactly as at Whist, the tricks being 
so stacked that they may be readily counted at any time. 

If a single player has called solo, misere, or abundance, the eld- 
est hand -still" has the original lead, and there is no change in the 
positions of the players. The position of the lead is often a seri- 
ous consideration with a player calling a solo or a misere. 

In all calls except miseres and slams, the hands must be played 
out, in order to give each side an opportunity to make all the over- 
tricks they can. The moment a misere player takes a trick, or a 
slam player loses one, the hands are thrown up, and the stakes 
paid. 

When a spread is called, the trump is taken up, and the eldest 
hand leads. As soon as all have played to the first trick, the 
caller spreads his remaining twelve cards face upward on the 
table, so that each of his adversaries may see them ; but they have 
no control of the order in which they shall be played. The adver- 
saries play their hands in the usual manner, with no further guidance 
than that possible by inference from the play and the exposed hand. 
The caller plays according to his best judgment. 

When a slam is called, the player proposing it has the original 
lead ; but that does not alter the position of the deal for the next 
hand. 

REVOKES. A revoke is a serious matter in Solo Whist. 
The penalty for it is the loss of three tricks, and the revoking 
players must pay the red counters involved in the call whether 
they win or lose ; but they may play the hand out to save over- 
tricks. For instance : A proposer and acceptor make 1 1 tricks ; 
their adversaries having claimed a revoke. After deducting the 
revoke penalty, 3 tricks, the callers still have 8 tricks left, enough 
to make good the call. They each lose a red counter ; but no 
white ones, having saved their over-tricks. Had they taken only 

8 tricks altogether, the penalty for the revoke would have left 
them only 5, and they would each have had to pay one red and 
three whites. If either adversary of the callers revokes, the indi- 
vidual player in fault must pay.for all the consequences of the error. 
If the player in fault can show that the callers would have won in 
spite of the revoke, his partners must pay their share ; but the re- 
voking player must settle for the three tricks lost by the revoke. 
For instance : Z calls solo ; A revokes ; Z makes 6 tricks, which it 
can be shown he must have done in spite of the revoke. A, Y, 
and B each pay Z 1 red and 1 white counter, and then A pays Z 

9 white counters in addition for the tricks taken as revoke penalty. 
If the single player revokes, either on solo or abundance, he 



82 (SoloWiiist) CARDS PLAYED IN ERROR. 

loses the red counters involved, and must pay whatever white 
counters are due after three of his tricks have been added to those 
of the adversaries as penalty for the revoke. For instance : A 
calls solo, and revokes, but wins 6 tricks in all. He pays two red 
counters to each adversary. They then take three of his tricks, 
leaving him three only, and demand two white counters each, for 
the two under-tricks. If a player revokes who has called a misere 
or 'a slam, he immediately loses the stakes. If a revoke is 
made by any adversary of a player who has called misere or slam, 
the player in fault must individually pay all the stakes. 

CARDS PLAYED IN ERROR. In the simple pro- 
posal and acceptance, the rules with regard to cards played in 
error, or led out of turn, are the same as at Whist. In the case 
of a single player against three adversaries, the caller is not liable 
to any penalty for cards played in error, or led out of turn ; but 
his adversaries are subject to the usual whist penalties for all such 
irregularities, such as having the cards laid on the table as exposed, 
or a suit called, or the highest or lowest of a suit, led demanded 
from an adversary who has followed suit out of turn. 

For the better protection of the single player, who is much more 
liable to be injured by irregularities than partners would be, he is 
allowed to prevent the use of an exposed trump for ruffing, and to 
demand or to prevent the play of any exposed card in plain suits. 
If a suit is led of which an adversary has an exposed card on the 
table, the single player may call upon him to play his highest or 
lowest of that suit. 

If any adversary of a misere player leads out of turn, or exposes 
a card, or plays before his proper turn in any trick, the caller may 
immediately claim the stakes, and the individual player in fault 
must pay for himself, and for his partners. 

METHODS OF CHEATING. While the practice of 
dealing three cards at a time gives a little more opportunity to the 
greek than would occur if they were dealt as at Whist, there is little 
to be feared if two packs are used, unless two greeks are in part- 
nership. When such partners sit next each other, there is more 
or less danger, if only one pack is used, that one may shuffle so 
that the other may cut understandingly ; or that a good shuffler 
may run up six cards for a dealer that is not embarrassed by the 
cards being cut. A shrewd greek can often help a silent partner 
who is playing under the disguise of a single caller, especially in 
misere. Persons who play in the many public cafes of Europe 
should be especially careful to avoid this style of partnership, 
where it is very common. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD PLAY. Apart from 
the general principles common to all forms of Whist, such 
as the play of high or low cards, trumps or plain suits, etc., 



PROPOSING. (Solo Whist.) 83 

there are several points peculiar to Solo Whist which require 
attention. 

Proposing. It is better to propose on two or three sure 
tricks, with strong probabilities of several more, than on a cer- 
tainty of four only. For instance : The two highest trumps, and 
two suits containing Aces, with no other trick probable, is not 
such a good hand for a proposal as one containing four average 
trumps, with one plain suit of K Q J x x, and another of KQxx. 
It is not improbable that the latter may be good for seven or eight 
tricks. Nothing but experience will teach a player what combina- 
tions of cards are " probably " good for tricks ; but K x x, or Q J 
10 x, or K Q, may be counted on. 

There should be some intelligible system of proposing, so that 
the players may understand each other. The eldest hand should 
not propose except on strong trumps, and this should be a warn- 
ing to other players not to accept him on trump strength alone. 

Four trumps with two or three honours may be called strong ; 
or five trumps, even without an honour. Five trumps with two 
or more honours is great strength. 

Any player other than the eldest hand should propose on 
general strength, and the player accepting him should do so on 
trump strength. Some such distinction should be clearly under- 
stood, in order that there may be no such contretemps as two 
players proposing and accepting on trumps alone, and finding 
themselves without a trick in the plain suits after the trumps are 
drawn. 

If the eldest hand is strong in trumps, but has not four sure 
tricks, he should pass, which will give him an excellent opportun- 
ity to accept a player proposing on general strength in the plain 
suits. If the proposal should be accepted before it comes to his 
turn, the eldest hand should be in a good position to defeat it. 

If any player, other than the eldest hand, has sufficient trump 
strength to justify a proposal, he will usually find that he can risk 
a solo ; or by passing, defeat any proposal and acceptance that 
may be made. 

Accepting. A proposal by the eldest hand should not be 
accepted by a player with only one strong suit. The probability 
of tricks in several suits is better than a certainty in one suit ; but 
if one strong suit is accompanied by a card of re-entry, or by four 
trumps, it should prove very strong, particularly in partnership 
with the eldest hand. 

When the partners will sit next each other, proposals may be 
accepted on slightly weaker hands than would be considered safe 
otherwise. 

Playing Proposals and Acceptances. If the eldest hand 
has proposed, and his partner sits next him on the left, the com' 



84 (Solo Whist.; PLAYING PROPOSALS. 

manding trumps should be first led, in order to secure as many 
rounds as possible. If the eldest hand has no high-card combina- 
tion in trumps, it is sometimes better to lead a small card from a 
weak suit, hoping to put the partner in. If successful, the part- 
ner will first show his suit, and then lead trumps through the 
adversaries. If the acceptor sits on the right of the proposing 
eldest hand, trumps should be led immediately, and the highest of 
them first, no matter what they are. The Q or J at the "head of 
five trumps may be of great use to a partner with an honour. When 
the eldest hand has proposed, and his partner sits opposite him, 
trumps should be led at once, and all combinations played as at 
Whist. 

The foregoing principles equally apply when the eldest hand 
has accepted a proposal, if the player can be depended on to have 
proposed on general strength. 

When partners sit opposite each other, the general principles of 
leading, establishing, defending, and bringing in suits, are the 
same as at Whist, and the usual trump signals and echoes are 
made use of. The game is practically Whist, with the additional 
knowledge that both proposer and acceptor have strong hands. 

When partners sit next each other, there are many opportuni- 
ties for leading strengthening cards through the adversaries, 
especially in the partner's known or inferred strong suit. 

Finesse, If neither proposer nor acceptor is the eldest hand, 
they should make no finesses ; but get into the lead as soon as 
possible, and exhaust the trumps. The greatest danger of defeat 
for a proposal and acceptance is that the adversaries, with the 
original lead, may establish a cross-ruff, or get six tricks with 
their winning cards before the calling players get a lead. 

It is a common artifice for the proposer and acceptor, after they 
have exhausted the adversaries' trumps, each to show a strong suit 
by leading it once, and then to lead the highest card of a weaker 
suit ; thus offering each other chances for successful finesse. 

If a partner sitting on the right leads a suit, there should be no 
finesse; and, in general, finessing should be avoided until the 
declaration is assured. It may then be used to secure probable 
over-tricks. 

Adversaries 9 Play. The players opposed to the call are al- 
ways designated as the adversaries. 

Players opposed to a proposer and acceptor should make no 
finesses that they are not certain will win more tricks if successful 
than they will lose if they fail. If the adversaries sit together, and 
are the last to play on any trick, the third hand should not trust 
anything to his partner that he can attend to himself, unless he is 
very anxious to be the last player on the next trick. 

When the adversaries sit opposite each other, their play will 



ADVERSARIES' PLAY. (Solo Whist.) 85 

differ very little from that in Whist, except that they will make 
no efforts "to establish long suits, and will not lead small cards from 
combinations containing an Ace. Every trick possible should be 
made sure of at once, before the calling players get any chance to 
discard. Weak suits should be protected, as they are in Whist 
when opposed to strong hands. # 

If an adversary has the first lead, it is usually best for him to 
make what winning cards he has at once, unless he is pretty sure 
that the proposal will be defeated. 

It is very seldom right for the adversaries to lead trumps. 
Some exceptions will naturally present themselves, such as an eld- 
est hand leading to his partner's turned-up King. In the middle 
or end game, it may be advantageous to bring down the caller's 
trumps together, or to draw two for one. 

If an adversary finds himself with a pretty strong hand, he 
should utterly disregard his partner, and play as false as he can ; 
for if the callers have eight probable tricks between them, it is im- 
possible for -the fourth player to have anything, unless there has' 
been some mistake in the call. 

In General, There are one or two exceptions to the methods 
of playing sequences at Whist, dependent on the position of the 
players holding them. For instance : If first or second hand holds 
any sequence of high cards, he should play the highest if his 
partner sits next him on the left, and the adversaries are to play 
after him ; otherwise the partner might think' the higher cards 
of the sequence were against the leader. If a caller should hold 
K Q x second hand, and play the Q as at Whist, his partner fol- 
lowing him, and holding Ace, would have to play it, thinking the 
King might be beyond. 

SOLO, In speaking of the players in a solo, misere, or abun- 
dance, it is usual to distinguish those opposed to the single player 
by calling them respectively, Left, Right, and Opposite. 

Opposite 

Right 



This arrangement does not affect the use of the letters A Y B Z, 
and the terms first, second, third, and fourth hand ; indicating the 
position of the deal, and of the lead. 

Calling, Those solos are easiest which are declared by the 
eldest hand, or by the dealer; the hardest being those called by 
second hand. The safest solos are those called on trump strength ; 



86 (Solo Whist,) PLAYING SOLOS. 

but average trumps and winning cards in the plain suits are more 
advantageous if the caller is not eldest hand. To call a solo on 
plain suits alone, with only one or two. trumps, is extremely dan- 
gerous ; and a solo called on a single suit must have at least five 
or six good trumps in order to succeed. 

PLAYING, When a call has been made entirely upon 
trump strength, it is much better to make tricks by ruffing, than by 
leading trumps. There is little use for a solo player to hold a 
tenace in trumps, hoping it will be led to him. If he has good 
suits, he should make sure of two rounds of trumps by leading the 
Ace. 

When the solo player is depending on the plain suits for tricks, 
and has one long suit, he should make what winning cards he has 
in the other plain suits in preference to leading trumps, for his 
only danger is that his long suit will be led often enough to give 
his adversaries discards in the other suits. 

If a proposal was made before the solo was called, it is better 
for the solo player to sit on the left of the player that proposed. 

The caller should never play single honours second hand, unless 
he has only one small card of the suit, or the honour is the Ace. 

With A Q x, second or third hand, the Q must be finessed if 
the caller has counted on both A and Q for tricks. If he can 
probably win without the finesse, he should play Ace. If he has 
tricks enough to win without either A or Q, he should play neither 
of them. 

A solo player should be very sure of his call before finessing for 
over-tricks. 

Adversaries 9 Play, The player to the left of the caller 
should not lead trumps ; but if the solo player has had a lead, and 
has not led trumps himself, the player on his right should take the 
first opportunity to lead them through him. 

The player to the left of the caller should not lead from suits 
headed only by the King ; nor from those containing major or 
minor tenaces. The best leads are from suits headed by Q J or 
10, even if short. 

With such high-card combinations as can be used to force the 
command in one round, such as K Q, or K Q J, the regular whist 
leads should be used. With suits headed by winning sequences, 
held by the player on the left, it is often right to lead them once, in 
order to show them, and then to lead a weaker suit to get rid of 
the lead. It is sometimes better to play winning sequences as 
long as it seems probable that the caller can follow suit. 

Many persons use the Albany lead to indicate a wish for trumps 
to be led through the caller. In response to such a signal the 
best trump should be led, whatever it is. 

When the adversary who leads in any trick is not on the left of 
the solo player, the caller will, of course, not be the last player, as 



PLAYING MIS&RES. (Solo Whist.) 87 

at least one adversary must play after him. In such cases it is 
best to lead the longest suits. 

MISiZHE. The great difficulty in Misere is not in playing it ; 
but in judging what hands justify such an undertaking. 

Calling. As a general proposition it may be stated that misere 
should not be called with a long suit not containing the deuce. 
But the longer the suit the less the danger tnere is for a player 
who is determined to risk it ; because the deuce is more likely to 
be found alone in some adversary's hand. Short suits may be 
risked, even with no card smaller than a 5 or 6, and it is of course 
a great advantage to have a suit altogether missing. 

Leading. The lead is a disadvantage to the caller, because 
he must begin with a small card, and the adversaries can play 
their highest. The only satisfaction to the caller is that he can 
usually locate the high cards of the suit under such circumstances. 
For instance : Suppose he originally leads a 4 ; second hand play- 
ing the 9 ; third hand the Ace ; and fourth hand the 10. The 
third hand is marked with whatever cards of the sequence K Q J 
are not in the caller's hand. 

Many players fall into the error of leading the highest card of a 
losing sequence, such as a 6 from 6543. This accomplishes 
nothing, and only discloses to the adversaries the fact that the 
caller is safe in that suit. The three is the better lead. 

Following Suit. The caller should usually play a card as 
little inferior as he can to the highest already on the trick. When 
he has cards of equal value, such as the 5 and 2-, the 3 and 4 being 
already on the table, he should play the lower card of the four- 
chette ; for although it may be said that the fourth player must 
take the trick, there is no certainty that he will follow suit. 

When second hand, if there is a choice between two cards, such 
as the 6 and 2, an intermediate card having been led, it is often a 
nice point to decide whether or not to risk covering, and keeping 
the deuce. If the deuce is played, it must be remembered that the 
adversaries will follow with their highest cards, leaving two cards 
out against the caller, both smaller than the 6. 

Discarding. The misere player should never discard from 
his long suits. The high cards of short suits, and single inter- 
mediate cards, such as 5's and 6's, should be got rid of at every 
opportunity 

Adversaries of the Mis&re. In playing against a misere 
the chief difficulty is to prevent the caller from discarding, and to 
place the lead with the player who can probably do him the most 
harm. 

It is an axiom with solo-whist players that every misere can be 
defeated, if the weak spot in it can be found ; because if the misere 



88 (Solo Whist) FLAYING AGAINST MISJfcBES. , 

was absolutely safe, it would be played as a spread, whicTi would 
pay the caller twice as much. This is not true, however, for it 
often happens that the cards are so distributed in the other hands 
that the call cannot be defeated, however risky it may have been. 

The weak point in a misere is usually a short suit with one high 
card in it ; or a suit of intermediate length, without the deuce. 

As it is probable that the caller is short in suits in which the 
adversaries are long, and long in those in which they are short, he 
is less likely to get a discard if they lead their shortest suits first. 
If the misere player has overcalled a proposal or a solo, he is likely 
to be short in the trump suit, or at least safe in it. It is not good 
play to lead a single Ace ; but a King may be very effective ; for if 
no one plays the Ace on it, that card may be absolutely marked in 
the caller's hand. In such a case the adversary with the greatest 
number of that suit should keep it. for the attack. If this player 
can get into the lead, he is not only sure of preventing the caller 
from discarding, but of allowing the other adversaries to discard 
to advantage. 

With an honour and one small card, a player on the left should 
lead the small card first ; if on the right, the honour should be led 
first. A long suit containing the deuce should be avoided as long 
as possible. 

The caller's cards may sometimes be inferred if there has been 
a previous call on the hand. For instance : A misere may be a 
forced call ; that is, the player first called a proposal, and not being 
accepted, was forced to amend his call, choosing misere in prefer- 
ence to solo. This would indicate a long weak suit of trumps. If 
the dealer calls misere, the turn-up trump should be carefully 
noted. 

It is useless to persevere in suits in which the caller is evidently 
safe. If he plays a very low card to a trick in which there is 
already a high card, that suit should be stopped. 

Discarding. An adversary should get rid of some one suit, if 
possible ; for when that suit is afterwards led he will have free 
choice of his discards in the other suits. Short suits should be 
discarded in preference to high cards in long suits, unless the 
cards in the short suit are very low. Discards give great informa- 
tion to the adversaries if the rule is followed to discard the high- 
est of a suit ; because all cards higher than those discarded must 
be between the two other adversaries and the caller, and each ad- 
versary is thus furnished with a guide. It is useless to discard a 
suit of which the caller is void ; and it is best to keep discarding 
from one suit until it is exhausted, or only the deuce remains. 
The trump signal is frequently used in discarding to indicate that 
the signaller wishes to get into the lead. 

Returning Suits, Whether or not to return a partner's lead 
may often be decided by inferences from the fall of the cards. It 



PLAYING AGAINST MI SERES. (Solo Whtst.) 89 

is frequently an easy matter to locate the cards in the various suits, 
if it is borne in mind that adversaries who play after the caller get 
rid of their highest cards. For instance: Right leads the 9; 
caller plays the 5 ; left the 10; and the last player finds he holds 
K Q J 6 of the suit. He should know that the caller has nothing 
between the 5 and the 9, and must have the Ace ; so his cards 
were probably A 543 2. While it is manifestly impossible to 
xatch him on that suit, it may still be led three times, in order to 
give the partners discards, as both of them must be short. If 
this estimate of the caller's cards is wrong in anything, it is not 
with regard to the Ace, so there is not the slightest danger in 
continuing the suit. 

As a general rule, the suit first led by an adversary should be 
returned, unless the player winning the trick has a singleton in 
another suit, when he should lead that. 

The suit led by the caller, if he was eldest hand, should not be 
returned. 

Some judgment of character must be used in playing on a cal- 
ler's own lead. An adventurous player will sometimes call a misere 
on a hand which contains a singleton 5 or 6, and will lead it at 
once ; trusting that second hand will imagine it to be safe, and 
cover it. Players should be aware of this trap, and never cover a 
misere player's own lead if they can help it, unless the card led is 
below a 4. 

ABUNDANCE, Very few persons will risk calling an 
abundance which they are not pretty certain of ; but a player may 
be forced to the call on a doubtful hand, especially if he is overcalled 
on his original proposal to play a solo. The lead is a great ad- 
vantage, because trumps can be exhausted immediately, and the 
suits protected. If the caller has not the lead he must calculate in 
advance for trumping in, and if his plain suits are not quite estab- 
lished, he will require more trumps than would otherwise be 
necessary. The greatest danger to an abundance player who has 
not the original lead, is that his best suit will be led through him, 
and trumped, either on the first or second round. The caller is 
■often trapped into unnecessarily high trumping when suits are 
led through him a second or third time. 

The Adversaries have little chance to defeat an abundance 
unless they can over-trump the caller, or ruff his good cards before 
he can exhaust the trumps. It is best for the Right to lead his 
longest suit, and for the Left to lead his shortest. A guarded 
King suit should not be led under any circumstances ; nor a short 
suit Ace high. If an adversary has a single trump of medium 
size, such as a J or 10, it is often good play to trump a partner's 
winning cards, so as to be sure of preventing the caller from mak- 
ing a small trump. If an adversary has trumped or over-trumped, it 
is very important to lead that suit to him again as soon as possible. 



90 (Solo Whist.) ABUNDANCE, AND SPREADS. . 

The rules for discarding that are given in connection with Whist 
should he carefully observed ; especially in the matter of showing 
command of suits. 

SPREADS. These should not be called except with hands 
in which every suit contains the deuce, and all the cards are low 
enough to insure the player that nothing short of extraordinary 
circumstances will defeat him. Open sequences, or Dutch 
straights, as they are sometimes called, in which the cards are 
all odd or all even, such as 246 8 10, are quite as safe as 
ordinary sequences, provided the deuce is among the cards. 

The player calling a spread must remember that it will be 
impossible for him to get any discards after the first trick without 
the consent of the adversaries ; for they will not lead a suit of 
which they see he is void. In order to reduce the caller's chances 
of a discard on the opening lead, before his cards are exposed, the 
adversaries should select their shortest suits, unless they have a 
bottom sequence to the deuce. 

THE SLAM. This feature of Solo Whist is even rarer than 
the grand coup at Whist. It is not very marvellous for an 
. abundance player to make twelve or thirteen tricks ; but to 
announce thirteen tricks before a card is played is something 
phenomenal. All the adversaries can do against such a call is to 
show each other, by their discards, in which of the suits they have a 
possible trick. It is very annoying to have a player succeed in mak- 
ing a slam just because two of his adversaries keep the same suit. 

SOLO WHIST FOR THREE PLAYERS. 

The best arrangement is to play with a pack of forty cards, de- 
leting the 2, 3, and 4 of each suit. The last card is turned up to 
determine the trump, but it is not used in play. 

There is no proposal and acceptance, solo being the lowest call. 
If all three players pass, the trump card is turned down, and each 
player in turn has the option of calling a six-trick abundance, 
naming his own trump suit. In some places it is the custom to 
allow the players to overcall each other, after the trump is turned 
down, each increasing the number of tricks he proposes to take. 
A misere overcalls eight tricks. 

Kimberly Solo is for four players, without any proposal and 
acceptance, solo being the lowest call. If all pass, a six-trick solo 
with a different trump is allowed. 

TEXT BOOKS. 

Solo Whist, by R. F. Green. 

How to Play Solo Whist, by Wilks & Pardon. 

For the Laws of Solo Whist, see Whist Family Laws. 



(Boston.) 91 

BOSTON. 

CARDS. Boston is played with two packs of fifty-two cards 
each, Which rank as at Whist, both for cutting and playing. 

MARKERS are not used in Boston, every hand being im- 
mediately settled for in counters. These are usually of three 
colours ; white, red, and blue ; representing cents, dimes, and 
dollars respectively. At the beginning of the game each player 
should be provided with an equal number, the general proportion 
being 20 white, 18 red, and 8 blue for each. Some one player 
should be selected to act as the banker, selling and redeeming all 
counters. 

STAKES. The stakes in Boston depend upon the value of 
the counters. One cent for a white counter is considered a pretty 
stiff game ; because it is quite possible for a single player to win 
or lose a thousand white counters on one hand, and the payments 
very seldom fall short of fifty. 

THE POOL. In addition to the counters won and lost on 
each hand, it is usual for the players to make up a pool at the* be- 
ginning of the game by each of them depositing one red counter 
in a small tray provided for the purpose. This pool may be in- 
creased from time to time by penalties; such as one red counter 
for a misdeal ; four for a revoke, or for not having the proper 
number of cards, etc. The whole amount in the pool may be won 
or lost by the players, according to their success or failure in cer- 
tain undertakings, which will presently be described. When 
empty, the pool is replenished by contributions from each player, 
as at first. 

The pool proper is usually limited to 25 red counters. When it 
exceeds that amount, the 25 are set aside, and the surplus used to 
start a fresh pool. Any player winning a pool is entitled to 25 red 
counters at the most. It will often happen that several such pools 
will accumulate, and each must be played for in its turn. At the 
end of the game any counters remaining in the pool or pools must 
be divided among the players. 

PLAYERS. Boston is played by four persons. If more 
than four candidates offer for play, five or six may form a table ; 
if there are more than six, the selection of the table must be made 
by cutting, as at Whist. 

CUTTING. The four persons who shall play the first 
game are determined by cutting, and they again cut for the deal, 
with the choice of seats and cards. The player drawing the 
lowest card deals, and chooses his seat ; the next lower card sits 
on his left, and so on, until all are seated. Twelve deals is a 



92 (Boston.) 



DEALING. 



game, at the end of which the players cut to decide which shall go 
out, as at Whist. 
s It is usual to count the deals by opening the blade of a pocket- 
knife, which is placed on the table by the player on the dealer's 
right. When it comes to his turn to deal, he partly opens one 
blade. When he deals again he opens it entirely, and the third 
time he closes it ; that being the third round, and the last deal of 
the game. 




Fourth Deal. 



•Eighth Deal. 



POSITION OF THE PLATERS. The four players at 
Boston are distinguished by the letters A Y B Z. 



Z is the dealer, and A is known as the eldest hand. There 
are no partnerships in Boston, except that of three players com- 
bined against the fourth, who is always spoken of as the caller. 

The players having once taken their seats are not allowed to 
change them without the consent of all the others at the table. 

DEALING. At the beginning of the game the two packs 
are thoroughly shuffled; after which they must not again be 
shuffled during the progress of the game. If a hand is dealt 
and not played, each player must sort his cards into suits and 
sequences before they are gathered and dealt again. 

At the beginning of each deal, one pack is presented to the 
players to be cut ; each having the privilege of cutting once, the 
dealer last. Beginning on his left, the dealer gives four cards to 
each player, then four more, and finally five ; no trump being 
turned. 

The general rules with regard to irregularities in the deal are 
the same as at Whist, except that a misdeal does not lose the deal. 
The misdealer must deal again with the same pack, after the 
players have sorted their cards into suits. It is a misdeal if the 
dealer fails to present the pack to the other players to cut, or neg- 



ANNOUNCEMENTS. (Boston.) 93 

lects to cut it himself. Should the dealer expose any of his own 
cards in dealing, that does not invalidate the deal. The deal passes 
in regular rotation to the left, each pack being used alternately. 

MAKING THE THUMP. The deal being complete, 
the player opposite the dealer cuts the still pack, and the player on 
his right turns up the top card for the trump. The suit to which 
this card belongs is called First Preference, and the suit of the 
same colour is called Second Preference, or Colour. The 
two remaining suits are known as Plain Suits for that deal. 
• The cards having been dealt, and the trump turned, each 
player carefully sorts and counts his cards, to see that he has the 
correct number, thirteen. A player having more or less than his 
right proportion should at once claim a misdeal ; for if he plays 
with a defective hand he cannot win anything that deal, but must 
stand his proportion of all losses incurred, besides paying a forfeit 
of four red counters to the pool. 

OBJECTS OF THE GAME. In Boston, each player has 
an opportunity to announce that he is willing to undertake to win 
a certain number of tricks, if allowed the privilege of naming the 
trump suit ; or to lose a certain number, there being no trumps. 
In either case, he proposes to play single-handed against the three 
other players. The player proposing the undertaking which is 
most difficult of accomplishment is said to overcall the others, 
and must be allowed to try. If he is successful, he wins the pool, 
and is paid a certain number of counters by each of his adversa- 
ries. If he fails, he must double the amount in the pool, and pay 
to each of the other players a certain number of counters. 

ANNOUNCEMENTS. The bids rank in the following order, 
beginning with the lowest. The full-faced type shows the words 
used by the players in calling their bids : — 

To win five tricks ; Boston. 

To win Stioc Tricks. 

To win Seven Tricks. 

To lose twelve tricks, after having discarded a card which is 
not to be shown ; Little Misire. 

To win Eight Tricks. 

To win Nine Tricks. 

To lose every trick ; Grand Misere. 

To win Ten Tricks. 

To win Eleven Tricks. 

To lose twelve tricks, after having discarded a card which is not 
to be shown ; the single player's remaining twelve cards being ex- 
posed face up on the table, but not liable to be called ; Little 
Spread. 

To win Twelve Tricks. 



94 (Boston,) METHOD OF BIDDING, 

To lose every trick ; the single player's cards exposed on the 
table, but not liable to be called ; Grand Spread, 

To win Thirteen Tricks ; Grand Slam. 

The object of the proposing player, if successful in his bid, is to 
win or lose the proposed number of tricks ; while that of his three 
adversaries is to combine to prevent him from so doing, There 
are no honours, and the only factor in the count is the number of 
tricks taken. The highest card played of the suit led wins the 
trick ; and trumps, if any, win against all other suits. 

METHOD OF BIDDING. The eldest hand has the first 
say, and after examining his cards, and estimating the number of 
tricks he can probably take, making the trump to suit his hand, 
he bids accordingly. It is not necessary for him to state which 
suit he wishes to make the trump ; but only the number of tricks 
he proposes to win. If he has no proposal to make, he says dis- 
tinctly ; i( I pass/ 9 and the other players in turn have an oppor- 
tunity to bid. If any player makes a bid, such as six tricks, and 
any other player thinks he can make the same number of tricks 
with a trump of the same colour as the turn-up, that is, Second 
Preference, he overcalls the first bidder by saying i{ I heep ; 99 
or he may repeat the number bid, saying 6i Six here." This 
is simply bidding to win the number of tricks in colour. The 
original caller may hold his bid, or a third player may overbid 
both, by saying; "I heep over you/ 9 or "Sim here. 99 
This means that he will undertake to win the number of tricks 
already bid, with the turn-up suit for trumps. In order to over- 
call such a bid as this, any other player would have to announce a 
greater number of tricks. For instance; Z deals, and turns a 
heart. A calls six tricks, intending to name hearts trumps ; but 
not saying so. B passes ; Y says " I Keep." This announces to 
the table that Y will play with a red trump, and A knows he is 
bidding on diamonds. Z passes, and A says ; " I keep over you."| 
B then bids seven tricks, and if A will not risk seven tricks in 
hearts, B will be the successful bidder. If A should bid seven 
tricks by keeping over B, the latter must know that it is useless 
for him to bid again unless he can make more tricks in diamonds 
than A can in hearts ; for A's bid, being in first preference, will 
always outrank B's for the same number of tricks. 

A player once having passed cannot come into the bidding again, 
except to call one of the miseres. In the example just given, 
either Y or Z, after having twice passed, might have outbid the seven 
tricks by calling a little misere. Such a bid can, of course, be en- 
tertained only when it outranks any bid already made. 

A player is not compelled to bid the full value of his hand ; but 
it is to his interest to go as near to it as he can with safety ; be- 
cause, as we shall see presently, the more he bids the more he is 
paid. For instance ; If he can make ten tricks, but bids seven 



METHOD OF PLAYING (Boston.) 95 

only, he will be paid for the three over-tricks, if he makes them ; 
but the payment for seven bid and ten taken, is only 22 counters ; 
while the payment for ten bid and ten taken is 42. As he receives 
from each adversary, a player who underbid his hand in this man- 
ner would lose 60 counters by his timidity. 

It sometimes happens that no one will make a proposal of any 
sort. It is very unusual to pass the deal. The trump is generally 
turned down, and a Grand is played, without any trump suit. 
This is sometimes called a Mis&re Fartout, or " all-round pov- 
erty " ; and the object of each player is to take as few tricks as 
possible. 

METHOI) OF FLAYING. No matter who is the suc- 
cessful bidder, the eldest hand always leads for the first trick, and 
the others must follow suit if they can, the play proceeding exactly 
as at Whist. The tricks should be carefully stacked, so that they 
can be readily counted by any player without calling attention to 
them. The laws provide a severe penalty for drawing attention to 
the score in this manner. Suppose a player has called eight tricks. 
An adversary hesitates in his play, and another reaches over and 
counts the tricks in front of the caller, finding he has seven. This is 
tantamount to saying to the player who hesitates : " If you don't win 
that trick, the call succeeds." In such a case, the single player may 
at once demand the play of the highest or lowest of the suit ; or 
that the adversaries trump or refrain from trumping the trick. 

In all calls except miseres and slams, the hands should be played 
out, in order to allow the players to make what over-tricks they 
can ; but the moment a misere player takes a trick, or a slam 
player loses one, the hands are thrown up, and the stakes paid. 
It is usual to show the cards to the board, in order to satisfy each 
player that no revoke has occurred. 

When Little Misere is called, each player discards one card, 
which must not be shown, and the hand is then played out with 
the remaining twelve cards. 

When Spreads are called, the caller's cards must be placed face 
upwards on the table before a card is played. If it is a Little 
Spread, the discard of each player must remain unknown. The 
adversaries have no control of the manner of playing the exposed 
cards, which cannot be called, and may be played in any manner 
suited to the judgment of the single player, provided he follows 

suit when able. - 

I 

REVOKES. If a player opposed to the caller revokes, but 
discovers his mistake in time to save himself, he may be called 
upon by the single player for his highest or lowest of the suit led ; 
or the card played in error may be claimed as an exposed card. 
If the highest or lowest of the suit is called, the card played in 
error is taken up. 



96 (Boston.) REVOKES. 

If the caller revokes, and discovers his mistake in time, he is not 
liable to any penalty, unless an adversary has played to the next 
trick. In that case the revoking card must be left on the table, 
and is liable to be called. When the single player revokes, he 
loses the call in any case, and at least one trick besides, He must 
also double the pool, and add to it a revoke forfeit of four red 
counters. For instance : A bids eight tricks, and his adversaries 
detect and claim a revoke. As he is supposed to have lost his 
bid, and one trick more, he may be said to have bid eight, and 
taken only seven ; losing 23 white counters to each of his adver- 
saries, doubling the pool, and then paying a forfeit of four red 
counters. In some places the forfeit is omitted, and in others it 
takes the place of doubling the pool. It is not usual to play the 
hand out after a revoke is claimed and proved. 

If an adversary of the single player revokes, he and his partners 
must each pay the caller just as if he had been successful, and 
must also pay him for three over-tricks as forfeit, provided his bid 
was not more than nine tricks ; for the bid and the over-tricks 
together must not exceed thirteen tricks. In addition to this, the 
individual player in fault must pay four red counters as forfeit to 
the pool. In some places he is made to double the pool ; but this 
is manifestly unfair, as he could not win the amount in the pool in 
any case, and therefore should not lose it. 

In a Misere Partout, the revoking player pays five red counters 
to each adversary, and deposits a forfeit of four red counters in 
the pool. The hands are immediately thrown up if the revoke is 
claimed and proved. 

CARDS PLAYED IK ERROR. The single player is 
not liable to any penalty for cards played in error, or led out of 
turn, except those taken back to save a revoke ; but his adver- 
saries are liable to the usual whist penalties for all such irregular- 
ities. The single player can forbid the use of an exposed trump for 
ruffing, and can demand or prevent the play of an exposed card in 
plain suits, provided he does not ask the adversary to revoke. If 
a suit is led of which an adversary has an exposed card on the 
table, the single player may call upon him to play his highest or 
lowest of that suit. 

If a player has announced Little Misere, and one of the adver- 
saries leads before the others have discarded, the caller may im- 
mediately claim the pool and stakes. If any adversary of a 
misere player leads out of turn, or exposes a card, or plays 
before his proper turn in any trick, the bidder may at once claim 
the pool and stakes. In all such cases it is usual for the indi- 
vidual in fault to pay a forfeit of four red counters toward the next 
pool. 

In Misere Partout, there is no penalty for cards played in error, 
or led out of turn. 



(German Whist.) 97 

RUSSIAN BOSTON. 

This is a variation of Boston de Fontainbleau. A player hold- 
ing carte blanche declares it before playing, and receives ten 
counters from each of the other players. Carte blanche is the 
same thing as chicane in Bridge, no trump in the hand. But in 
Bridge the player is penalized for announcing it until after the 
hand is played. 

The order of the suits is the same as in American Boston de 
Fontainbleau : diamonds, hearts, clubs, and spades. 

When a player bids six, seven, or eight tricks, he is supposed to 
be still willing to take a partner, unless he specifies solo. When a 
partner accepts him, the combination must make four tricks more 
than the original proposal. 

Four honours are paid for as four over-tricks ; three honours as 
two over-tricks. 

Piccolissimo is played, and comes between the bids of seven and 
eight tricks. 



GERMAN WHIST. 

CARDS, German Whist is played with a full pack of fifty- 
two cards, which rank as at Whist, both for cutting and playing. 

PLAYERS. Two persons play. They cut for the first 
deal, and the choice of seats. 

DEALING. The dealer presents the pack to his adversary 
to be cut, and then gives thirteen cards to each player, one at a 
time, turning up the twenty-seventh card for the trump, and lay- 
ing it on the talon, or remainder of the pack. 

PLAYING. The non-dealer begins by leading any card he 
pleases, and his adversary must follow suit if he can. The 
winner of the first trick takes the trump ca/d into his hand, and 
his adversary takes the card immediately under it, but without 
showing or naming it. Each player thus restores the number of 
cards in his hand to thirteen. The card which is now on the top 
of the talon is turned up, and the winner of the next trick must 
take it, his adversary taking the one under it, as before, and turn- 
ing up the next. In this manner it will be seen that the winner of 
each trick must always get a card which is known to his adver- 
sary, while the loser of the trick gets one which remains unknown. 

When the talon is exhausted, the thirteen cards in each hand 
should be known to both players if they have been observant, and 
the end game becomes a problem in double dummy. 



98 (Chinese Whist.) GERMAN WHIST. 

STAKES, The game is usually played for so much a point 
the player having won the majority of the tricks receiving the dif* 
ference between the number of his tricks and those of his adver^ 
sary. Each game is complete in one hand. 

In many respects the game resembles single-handed Hearts, ex- 
cept that in Hearts none of the cards drawn are shown. 



CHINESE WHIST. 

CARDS, Chinese Whist is played with a full pack of fifty- 
two cards, which rank as at Whist, both for cutting and playing. 

MARKERS* Ordinary whist markers are used for scoring 
the points. 

PLAYERS, Two, three or four persons can play Chinese 
Whist. When three play, the spade deuce is thrown out of the 
pack. Partners and deal are cut for from an outspread pack, as 
at Whist. 

POSITION OF THE PLA TERS, When four play, the 
partners sit opposite each other. When three play, the one cut- 
ting the lowest card chooses his seat, and dictates the positions of 
the two other players. 

DEALING, When four play, the pack is shuffled and cut 
as at Whist. The dealer then gives six cards to each player, one 
at a time, beginning on his left. These six cards are then spread 
face down on the table in front of the players to whom they have 
been dealt, but without being looked at. Six more are then dealt 
to each, one at a time, and these are turned face up, and sorted 
into suits. They are then laid face up on the top of the six cards 
which are lying on the table face down, so as to cover them. The 
last four cards are then dealt, one to each player, These last are 
retained in the hand, and must not be shown or named ; they are 
usually called the " down cards," 

MAKING THE TRUMP, After examining the cards 
exposed on the table, and the down card in his own hand, the 
dealer has the privilege of naming any suit he pleases for trumps. 
No consultation with partner is allowed. 

METHOD OF PLAYING, The player' to the left of 
the dealer begins by leading any one of his exposed cards, 
and the others must follow suit if they can ; either with one of 
their exposed cards, or with their down cards. A player having 
none of the suit led may either discard or trump. The highest 
card played of the suit led wins the trick, and trumps win all other 



SUGGESTIONS. (Chinese Whist,) 99 

suits. The side winning the trick takes it in and arranges it just 
as at Whist. Before leading for the next trick all cards which 
have been uncovered are turned face up. If any person has 
played his down card he will have no card to turn up, none having 
been uncovered. The cards cannot under any circumstances be 
shifted from their original positions. If a player has five cards 
face up, covering five cards face down, he cannot shift one of the 
exposed cards to the empty sixth place, and uncover another card. 
All covering cards must be got rid of in the course of play. 

• PENALTIES for revokes, cards led out of turn, etc., are 
the same as at Whist. 

OBJECTS OF THE GAME. As in Whist, the object is to 
win tricks, all above six counting one point toward game. Five, 
seven, or ten points may be made the game, at the option of the 
players, but ten is the usual number. Honours are not counted 
except by agreement. 

STAKES. It is usual to play for so much a point or a game. 
If points are played, the loser's score must be deducted from the 
winner's, and the difference is the value of the game won. 

WHEN THREE FLAY, eight cards are dealt to each per- 
son, and arranged face down ; then eight more, arranged face up, 
and then one to each for down cards. There are no partnerships ; 
each plays for himself against the others. 

WHEN TWO PLAT, twelve cards are dealt to each player, 
and arranged face down ; then twelve more, arranged face up, and 
then two down cards to each. It is usual to deal all the cards two 
at a time. 

SUGGESTIONS FOP GOOD PLAT. Chinese Whist 
very closely resembles Dummy, and the chief element of success is 
the skilful use of tenace. Memory also plays an important part, it 
being especially necessary to remember what cards are still un- 
played in each suit. While the down cards are held a player can- 
not be sure of taking a trick by leading a card higher than any his 
adversary has exposed, because one of the down cards may be 
better. If a player is short of trumps, but has as many and better 
than those of his adversary, it is often good play to lead and draw 
the weaker trumps before the adversary turns up higher ones to 
protect them. For instance : One player may have 10 8, and his 
adversary the 9 alone. If the 10 is led the 9 will probably be 
caught, unless one of the adverse down cards is better. If the 10 
is not led the adversary may turn up an honour, and will then have 
major tenace over the 10 and 8. 

The end game always offers some interesting problems for 
solution by the expert in tenace position, and in placing the lead. 



100 (Whist.) 

WHIST FAMILY LAWS. 

While the code of laws drawn up by the American Whist 
League, and finally approved and adopted at the Third Con- 
gress, [in Chicago, June 20th to 24th, 1893,] refers exclusively to 
the parent game of Whist, its general provisions equally apply to 
all members of the whist family of games. The author believes it 
will save much repetition and confusion to interlineate the excep- 
tions which are necessary in order to cover the special features of 
such important variations as Boston, Cayenne, and Solo Whist. 
Where no exceptions are made, the law applies equally to these 
games and to Whist. The unnumbered paragraphs show the in- 
serted laws. 

It is a common practice for the framers of laws to insert rules 
which are simply descriptive of the manner of play. The author 
believes in adhering to the proper definition of a law, which is a 
rule carrying with it some penalty for its infraction, of defining the 
rights of individual players. Such a statement as that the Dummy 
player may not overlook his adversary's hand is not a law, because 
there is no penalty if he does so. 

The author is not responsible for the peculiar grammar employed 
in both the American and English Laws. 



1. A game consists of seven points, each trick above six count- 
ing one. The value of the game is determined by deducting the 
Users' score from seven. 

In Boston, the game is finished in twelve deals. 
In Cayenne, a game consists of ten points, each trick 
above six counting towards game according to the table of 
values. Honours and Slams also count towards game. Every 
hand must be played out, and all points made in excess of 
the ten required to win the game are counted on the next 
game ; so that it is possible to win two or three games in 
one hand. In Nullo, every trick over the book is counted by 
the adversaries. Players cannot count out by honours alone ; 
they must win the odd trick or stop at the score of nine. 
If one side goes out by cards, the other cannot score honours. 
The rubber is won by the side that first wins four games of 
ten points each. The value of the rubber is determined by 
adding 8 points to the winners' score for tricks, honours, and 
slams, and then deducting the score of the losers. 

In Solo Whist, the game is complete in one deal, and 
the value of it is determined by the player's success or failure 
in his undertaking, and must be settled for at the end of the 
hand, according to the table of payments. 



AMERICAN LAWS. (Whist.) 101 

FORMING THE TABLE. 

2. Those first in the room have the preference. If, by reason 
of two or more arriving at the same time, more than four assem- 
ble, the preference among the last comers is determined by cutting, 
a lower cut giving the preference over all cutting higher. A com- 
plete table consists of six ; the four having the preference play. 
Partners are determined by cutting ; the highest two play against 
the lowest two ; the lowest deals and has the choice of seats and 
cards. 

In Boston and in Solo Whist, a table is complete with 
four players. In cutting for positions at the table, the lowest 
has the choice of seats and cards, and the two highest sit op- 
posite each other. 

3. If two players cut intermediate cards of equal value, they 
cut again ; the lover of the new cut plays with the original lowest. 

4. If three players cut cards of equal value, they cut again. If 
the fourth has cut the highest card, the two lowest of the new cut 
are partners, and the lowest deals. If the fourth has cut the low- 
est card, he deals, and the two highest of the new cut are partners. 

5. At the end of a game, if there are more than four belonging 
to the table, a sufficient number of the players retire to admit those 
awaiting their turn to play. In determining which players remain 
in, those who have played a less number of consecutive games 
have the preference over all who have played a greater number ; 
between two or more who have played an equal number, the 
preference is determined by cutting, a lower cut giving the prefer- 
ence over all cutting higher. 

In Boston, Cayenne, and Solo Whist, at the end of a 
game a new table must be formed, those already in having no 
preference over fresh candidates. 

6. To entitle one to enter a table, he must declare his intention 
to do so before any one of the players has cut for the purpose of 
commencing a new game or of cutting out. 

In Boston, Cayenne, and Solo Whist, this rule. does 
not apply. 

CUTTING. 

7. In cutting, the ace is the lowest card. All must cut from 
the same pack. If a player exposes more than one card, he must 
nit again. Drawing cards from the outspread pack may be re- 
sorted to in place of cutting. 

SHUFFLING. 

8. Before every deal, the cards must be shuffled. When two 
packs are used, the dealer's partner must collect and shuffle the 
cards for the ensuing deal and place them at his right hand. In 
all cases the dealer mav shuffle last. 



102 (Whist.) AMERICAN LAWS, 

In Boston and in Cayenne, two packs must be used ; 
and in Boston there must be no shuffling of either pack after 
the first deal. 

9. A pack must not be shuffled during the play of a hand, nor 
so as to expose the face of any card. 

CUTTING TO THE DEALER. 

10. The dealer must present the pack to his right hand adver- 
sary to be cut ; the adversary must take a portion from the top of 
the pack and place it toward the dealer ; at least four cards must 
be left in each packet ; the dealer must reunite the packets by 
placing the one not removed in cutting upon the other. 

11. If, in cutting or reuniting the separate packets, a card is 
exposed, the pack must be reshuffled by the dealer, and cut again ; 
if there is any confusion of the cards, or doubt as to the place where 
the pack was separated, there must be a new cut. 

In Boston, the pack must be cut again ; but not shuffled. 

12. If the-dealer reshuffles the pack after it has been properly 
cut, he loses his deal. 

In Boston, Cayenne, and Solo Whist, the misdealer 
must deal again. 

DEALING. 

13. When the pack has been properly cut and reunited, the 
dealer must distribute the cards, one at a time, to each player in 
regular rotation, beginning at his left. The last, which is the 
trump card, must be turned up before the dealer. At the end of 
the hand, or when the deal is lost, the deal passes to the player 
next to the dealer on his left, and so on to each in turn. 

In Solo Whist, the cards are distributed three at a time 
until only four remain in the pack. These are dealt one at 
a time, and the last turned up for trump. 

In Boston and in Cayenne, the cards are dealt four at a 
time for two rounds, and then five at a time. No trump is 
turned. After the cards have been dealt the player opposite 
the dealer presents the still pack to be cut by the player on 
the dealer's left, and the top card of the portion left on the 
table is turned up. 

In Boston, Cayenne, or Solo Whist, the deal is never 
lost. The same dealer deals again with the same pack. 

14. There must be a new deal by the same dealer : — 

I. If any card except the last is faced in the pack. 

II. If, during the deal or during the play of the hand, the 

pack is proved incorrect or imperfect; but any prior 
score made with that pack shall stand. 



AMERICAN LAWS. (Whist.) 103 

15. If, during the deal 5 a card is exposed, the side not in fault 
may demand a new deal, provided neither of that side has touched 
a card. If a new deal does not take place, the exposed card is not 
liable to be called. 

16. Any one dealing out of turn, or with his adversaries' pack, 
may be stopped before the trump card is turned, after which the 
deal is valid, and the packs, if changed, so remain. 

In Boston and Cayenne, the dealer must be stopped be- 
fore the last card is dealt. 

MISDEALING. 

17. It is a misdeal : — 

I. If the dealer omits to have the pack cut, and his adver= 

saries discover the error before the trump card is 
turned, and before looking at any of their cards. 

II. If he deals a card incorrectly, and fails to correct the 

error before dealing another. 

III. If he counts the cards on the table or in the re- 

mainder of the pack. 

IV. If, having a perfect pack, he does not deal to each 

player the proper number of cards, and the error is 
discovered before all have played to the first trick. 
V. If he looks at the trump card before the deal is com- 
pleted. • 
vi. If he places the trump card face downward upon 
his own or any other player's cards. 
A misdeal loses the deal, unless, during the deal, either of the 
adversaries touches a card or in any other manner interrupts the 
dealer. 

In Boston, Cayenne, and Solo Whist, the misdealer 
deals again with the same cards. In Boston he forfeits a red 
counter to the pool for his error. 

THE TRUMP CARD. 

18. The dealer must leave the trump card face upward on the 
table until it is his turn to play to the first trick ; if it is left on the 
table until after the second trick has been turned and quitted, it is 
liable to be called. After it has been lawfully taken up, it must 
not be named, and any player naming it is liable to have his high- 
est or his lowest trump called by either adversary. A player may, 
however, ask what the trump suit is. 

This law does not apply to Boston, or Cayenne. 

In Boston and in Cayenne, no trump is turned, but a 
card is cut from the still pack to determine the rank of the 
suits. See Law 13. 

In Cayenne, the trump suit must be named by the dealer 
or his partner after they have examined their cards. The 



104 (Whist) AMERICAN LAWS. 

dealer has the first say, and he may select any of the four suits, 
or he may announce " grand," playing for the tricks without 
any trump suit. In Cayenne, he may announce "nullo," play- 
ing to take as few tricks as possible, there being no trump suit. 
If the dealer makes his choice, his partner must abide by it; 
but if the dealer has not a hand to justify him in deciding, he 
may leave the choice to his partner, who must decide. A 
declaration once made cannot be changed. 

IRREGULARITIES IN THE HANDS. 

19. If, at any time after all have played to the first trick, the 
pack being perfect, a player is found to have either more or less 
than his correct number of cards and his adversaries have their 
right number, the latter, upon the discovery of such surplus or de- 
ficiency, may consult and shall have the choice: — 

I. To have a new deal ; or 

II. To have the hand played out, in which case the sur 

plus or missing card or cards are not taken into 
account. 
If either of the adversaries also has more or less than his correct 
number, there must be a new deal. 

If any player has a surplus card by reason of an omission to 
play to a trick, his adversaries can exercise the foregoing privilege 
only after he has played to the trick following the one in which 
such omission occurred. 

In Boston, if at any time it is discovered that a player 
opposed to the bidder has less than his proper number of 
cards, whether through the fault of the dealer, or through 
having played more than one card to a trick, he and his part- 
ners must each pay the bidder for his bid and all over-tricks. 
If the bidder has less than his proper number of cards, he is 
put in for one trick at least, and his adversaries may demand 
the hand to be played out to put him in for over-tricks. 
In Misere Partout, any player having less than his proper 
number of cards forfeits five red counters to each of the other 
players, and the hands are abandoned. If any player has 
more than the proper number of cards, it is a misdeal, and 
the misdealer deals again, after forfeiting one red counter to 
the pool. 

In Solo Whist, the deal stands good. Should the player 
with the incorrect number of cards be the caller or his partner, 
the hand must be played out. Should the caller make good 
his proposition, he neither receives nor pays on that hand. If 
he fails, he must pay. Should the player with the defective 
hand be the adversary of the caller, he and his partners must 
pay the stakes on that hand, which may then be abandoned. 



AMERICAN LAWS. (Whist.) 105 

Should two players have an incorrect number of cards, one of 
them being the caller, there must be a new deal. 

CARDS LIABLE TO BE CALLED. 

20. The following cards are liable to be called by either adver- 
sary :— 

I. Every card faced upon the table otherwise than In the 

regular course of play, but not including a card led 
out of turn. 

II. Every card thrown with the one led or played to the 

current trick. The player must indicate, the one 
led or played. 

III. Every card so held by a player that his partner sees 

any portion of its face. 

IV. All the cards in a hand lowered or shown by a player 

so that his partner sees more than one card of it. 

V. Every card named by the player holding it. 

In Boston and Solo Whist there are no penalties for cards 
exposed by the single player, because he has no partner to take 
advantage of the information. 

21. All cards liable to be called must be placed and left face 
upwards on the table. A player must lead or play them when 
called, provided he can do so without revoking. The call may be 
repeated at each trick until the card is played. A player cannot 
be prevented from leading or playing a card liable to be called ; if 
he can get rid of it in the course of play, no penalty remains. 

In Boston and in Solo Whist, if the exposed card is a 
trump, the owner may be called upon by his adversary not 
to use it for ruffing. If the suit of the exposed card is led, 
whether trump or not, the adversary may demand that the 
card be played or not played ; or that the highest or lowest of 
the suit be played. If the owner of the exposed card has no 
other of the suit, the penalty is paid. 

Penalties must be exacted by players in their proper turn, or 
the right to exact them is lost. For instance : In Solo Whist, 
A is the proposer, B the acceptor, and B has an exposed card 
in front of him. When Y plays he should say whether or 
not he wishes to call the exposed card. If he says nothing, B 
must await Z's decision. 

22. If a player leads a card better than any his adversaries hold 
of the suit, and then leads one or more other cards without wait- 
ing for his partner to play, the latter may be called upon by either 
adversary to take the first trick, and the other cards thus improp- 
erly played are liable to be called ; it makes no difference whether 
he plays them one after the other, or throws them all on the table 



106 (Whist.) AMERICAN LAWS. 

together, after the first card is played, the others are liable to be 
called. 

23. A player having a card liable to be called must not play 
another until the adversaries have stated whether or not they wish 
to call the card liable to the penalty. If he plays another card 
without awaiting the decision of the adversaries, such other card 
also is liable to be called. 

LEADING OUT OF TURN. 

24. If any player leads out of turn, a suit may be called from 
him or his partner, the first time it is the turn of either of them to 
lead. The penalty can be enforced only by the adversary on the 
right of the player from whom a suit can be lawfully called, 

If a player, so called on to lead a suit, has none of it, or if all 
have played to the false lead, no penalty can be enforced. If all 
have not played to the trick, the cards erroneously played to such 
false lead are not liable to be called and must be taken back. 

In Boston, if the adversary of the bidder leads out of turn, 
and the bidder has not played to the trick, the latter may call 
a suit from the player whose proper turn it is to lead : or, if 
it is the bidder's own lead, he may call a suit when next the 
adversaries obtain the lead ; or he may claim the card played 
in error as an exposed card. If the bidder has played to the 
trick the error cannot be rectified. Should the bidder lead out 
of turn, and the player on his left follow the erroneous lead, 
the error cannot be corrected. 

In Miseres, a lead out of turn by the bidder's adversary im- 
mediately loses the game, but there is no penalty for Jeading 
out of turn in Misere Partout. 

PLAYING OUT OF TURN. 

25. If the third hand plays before the second, the fourth hand 
also may play before the second. 

26. If the third hand has not played, and the fourth hand plays 
before the second, the latter may be' called upon by the third hand 
to play his highest or lowest card of the suit led or, if he has none, 
to trump or not to trump the trick. 

In Boston, and in Solo Whist, should an adversary of 
the single player play out of turn, the bidder may call upon 
the adversary who has not played to play his highest or low- 
est of the suit led, or to win or not to win the trick. If the 
adversary of a Misere player leads or plays out of turn, the 
bidder may immediately claim the stakes. In Solo Whist, 
the individual player in fault must pay for himself and for his 
partners. 

ABANDONED HANDS. 

27. If all four players throw their cards on the table, face up- 
wards, no further play of that hand is permitted. The result of 



AMERICAN LAWS, (Whist) 107 

the hand, as then claimed or admitted, is established, provided 
that, if a revoke is discovered, the revoke penalty attaches. 

In Solo Whist, should the bidder abandon his hand, he 
and his partner, if any, must pay the stakes and settle for all 
over-tricks as if they had lost all the remaining tricks. If 
a player, not the bidder, abandons his hand, his partner or 
partners may demand the hand to be played out with the 
abandoned hand exposed, and liable to be called by the ad- 
versary. If they defeat the call they win nothing, but the 
player who abandoned his hand must pay the caller just as if 
he had been successful. If the partner or partners of the 
exposed hand lose, they must pay their share of the losses. 

REVOKING, 

28.. A revoke is a renounce in error, not corrected in time. A 
player renounces in error, when, holding one or more cards of the 
suit led, he plays a card of a different suit. 

A renounce in error may be corrected by the player making it, 
before the trick in which it occurs has been turned and quitted, un- 
less either he or his partner, whether in his right turn or otherwise, 
has led or played to the following trick. 

29. If a player corrects his mistake in time to save a revoke, 
the card improperly played by him is liable to be called ; any player 
or players, who have played after him, may withdraw their cards 
and substitute others ; the cards so withdrawn are not liable to be 
called. 

^ In Boston, if the bidder revokes and corrects himself in 
time, there is no penalty unless an adversary has played after 
him, in which case the bidder's card may be claimed as ex- 
posed. The player who followed him may then amend his 
play. If a player opposed to the bidder discovers and cor- 
rects a revoke made by himself or any of his partners, the bid- 
der may either claim the card played in error as exposed, or 
may call on the revoking player for his highest or lowest of 
the suit led. 

30. The penalty for revoking is the transfer of two tricks from 
the revoking side to their adversaries ; it can be enforced for as 
many revokes as occur during the hand. The revoking side can- 
not win the game in that hand ; if both sides revoke, neither can 
win the game in that hand. 

In Cayenne and Solo Whist, as a penalty for a revoke, 
the adversaries of the revoking player may take from him three 
tricks ; or may deduct the value of three tricks from his score ; 
or may add the value of three tricks to their own score. 
The revoking players cannot score slams or game that hand. 
All slams must be made independently of the revoke penalty. 



108 (WinsU) AMERICAN LAWS. 

In Boston, the penalty for a revoke on the part of the 
bidder is that he is put in for one trick, and must pay four 
red counters into the next pool. Should an adversary of the 
bidder revoke, he must pay four red counters into the next 
pool, and he and his partners must pay the bidder as if he had 
been successful. On the discovery of a revoke in Boston the 
hands are usually abandoned ; but the cards should be shown 
to the table, in order that each player may be satisfied that no 
other revoke has been made. A player revoking in Misere 
Partout pays five red counters to each of his adversaries and 
the hands are then abandoned. 

31. The revoking player and his partner may require the hand 
in which the revoke has been made, to be played out, and score 
all points made by them up to the score of six. 

In Boston, the hands are abandoned after the revoke is 
claimed and proved. 

In Cayenne, the revoking players must stop at nine. 

In Solo Whist, the revoking players must pay all the red 
counters involved in the call, whether they win or lose, but 
they may play the hand out to save over-tricks. If the caller 
or his partner revokes they must jointly pay the losses in- 
volved ; but if an adversary of the caller revokes, he must 
individually pay the entire loss unless he can show that the 
callers would have won in spite of the revoke. Should he be 
able to do this, his partners must stand their share of the 
losses, but the revoking player must individually pay for the 
three tricks taken as the revoke penalty. If the single player 
revokes, either on solo or abundance, he loses the red counters 
involved in any case, but may play the hand out to save over- 
tricks. If the single player in a misere or a slam revokes, the 
hand is abandoned and he must pay the stakes. If an ad- 
versary of a misere or a slam revokes, he must individually 
pay the whole stakes. 

32. At the end of a hand, the claimants of a revoke may search 
all the tricks. If the cards have been mixed, the claim may be 
urged and proved, if possible ; but no proof is necessary and the 
revoke is established, if, after it has been claimed, the accused 
player or his partner mixes the cards before they have been exam- 
ined to the satisfaction of the adversaries. 

33. The revoke can be claimed at any time before the cards 
have been presented and cut for the following deal, but not there- 
after. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

34. Any one, during the play of a trick and before the cards 
have been touched for the purpose of gathering them together, 
may demand that the players draw their cards. 

35. If any one, prior to his partner playing, calls attention in 
any manner to the trick or to the score, the adversary last to play to 



AMERICAN LAWS. (Whist) 109 

the trick may require the offender's partner to play his highest or 
lowest of the suit led or, if he has none, to trump or not to trump 
the trick. 

36. If any player says " I can win the rest," " The rest are 
ours," " We have the game," or words to that effect, his partner's 
cards must be laid upon the table and are liable to be called. 

37. When a trick has been turned and quitted, it must not again 
be seen until after the hand has been played. A violation of this 
law subjects the offender's side to the same penalty as in case of a 
lead out of turn. 

In Boston, Cayenne, and Solo Whist, it is still the 
custom to permit looking at the last trick, except in Miseres. 
The penalty in a misere game is the same as for a lead out of 
turn. 

38. If a player is lawfully called upon to play the highest or 
lowest of a suit, or to trump or not to trump a trick, or to lead a 
suit, and unnecessarily fails to comply, he is liable to the same 
penalty as if he had revoked. 

39. In all cases where a penalty has been incurred, the offender 
must await the decision of the adversaries. If either of them, 
with or without his partner's consent, demands a penalty to which 
they are entitled, such decision is final. If the wrong adversary de- 
mands a penalty, or a wrong penalty is demanded, none can be 
enforced. 



The following rules belong to the established code of Whist 
Etiquette. They are formulated with a view to discourage and re- 
press certain improprieties of conduct, therein pointed out, which 
are not reached by the laws. The courtesy which marks the inter- 
course of gentlemen will regulate other more obvious cases. 

1. No conversation should be indulged in during the play, ex- 
cept such as is allowed by the laws of the game. 

2. No player should in any manner whatsoever give any inti- 
mation as to the state of his hand or of the game, or of approval 
or disapproval of a play. 

3. No player should lead until the preceding trick is turned 
and quitted. 

4. No player should, after having led a winning card, draw a 
card from his'hand for another lead until his partner has played to 
the current trick. 

5. No player should play a card in any manner so as to call 
particular attention to it, nor should he demand that the cards be 
placed in order to attract the attention of his partner. 

6. No player should purposely incur a penalty because he is 
willing to pay it, nor should he make a second revoke in order to 
conceal one previously made. 



110 (Whist) ENGLISH LAWS. 

7. No player should take advantage of information imparted by 
his partner through a breach of etiquette. 

8. No player should object to referring a disputed question of 
fact to a bystander who professes himself uninterested in the re- 
sult of the game, and able to decide the question. 

9. Bystanders should not in any manner call attention to, or 
give any intimation concerning the play or the state of the game, 
during the play of a hand. They should not look over the hand of 
a player without his permission ; nor should they walk round the 
table to look at the different hands. 

ERRONEOUS SCORES. 
Any error in the trick score may be corrected before the 
last card has been dealt in the following deal ; or if the error 
occurs in the last hand of a game or rubber, it may be cor- 
rected before the score is agreed to. Errors in other scores 
may be corrected at any time before the final score of the 
game or rubber is agreed to. 

BIDDING. 
In Boston, or Solo Whist, any player making a bid must 
stand by it, and either play or pay. Should he make a bid in 
error and correct himself, he must stand by the first bid unless 
he is overcalled, when he may either amend his bid or pass. 



ENGLISH WHIST LAWS. 

THE RUBBER. 

1. The rubber is the best of three games. If the first two 
games are won by the same players, the third game is not played. 

SCORING. 

2. A game consists of five points. Each trick, above six, 
counts one point. 

3. Honours, i. e., Ace, King, Queen, and Knave of trumps, are 
thus reckoned : 

If a player and his partner, either separately or conjointly, hold— 

I. The four honours, they score four points. 

II. Any three honours, they score two points. 

III. Only two honours, they do not score. 



ENGLISH LAWS. (Whist) 111 

4. Those players who, at the commencement of a deal, are at 
the score of four, cannot score honours. 

5. The penalty for a revoke {see Law 72) takes precedence of 
all other scores. Tricks score next. Honours last. 

6. Honours, unless claimed before the trump card of the fol- 
lowing deal is turned up, cannot be scored. 

7. To score honours is not sufficient ; they must be called at 
the end of the hand ; if so called, they may be scored at any time 
during the game. 

8. The winners gain — ■ 

I. A treble, or game of three points, when their adver- 

saries have not scored. 

II. A double, or game of two points, when their adver- 

saries have scored less than three. 

III. A single, or game of one point, when their adversaries 

have scored three or four. 

9. The winners of the rubber gain two points (commonly called 
the rubber points), in addition to the value of their games. 

10. Should the rubber have consisted of three games, the value 
of the losers' game is deducted from the gross number of points 
gained by their opponents. 

11. If an erroneous score be proved, such mistake can be cor- 
rected prior to the conclusion of the game in which it occurred, 
and such game is not concluded until the trump card of the fol- 
lowing deal has been turned up. 

12. If an erroneous score, affecting the amount of the rubber, 
be proved, such mistake can be rectified at any time during the 
rubber. 

CUTTING. 

13. The Ace is the lowest card. 

14. In all cases, every one must cut from the same pack. 

15. Should a player expose more than one card, he must cut 
again. 

FORMATION OF TABLE. 

16. If there are more than four candidates, the players are 
selected by cutting ; those first in the room having the preference. 
The four who cut the lowest cards play first, and cut again to 
decide on partners ; the two lowest play against the two highest ; 
the lowest is the dealer, who has choice of cards and seats, and, 
having once made his selection, must abide by it. 

17. When there are more than six candidates, those who cut 
the two next lowest cards belong to the table, which is complete 
with six players ; on the retirement of one of those six players, 
the candidate who cut the next lowest card has a prior right to 
any aftercomer to enter the table- 



112 (Whist.) ENGLISH LAWS. 

CUTTING CARDS OF EQUAL VALUE. 

1 8. Two players cutting cards of equal value, unless such 
cards are the two highest, cut again ; should they be the two 
lowest, a fresh cut is necessary to decide which of those two deals. 

19. Three players cutting cards of equal value cut again; 
should the fourth (or remaining) card be the highest, the two 
lowest of the new cut are partners, the lower of those two the 
dealer ; should the fourth card be the lowest, the two highest are 
partners, the original lowest the dealer. 

CUTTING OUT. 

20. At the end of a rubber, should admission be claimed by 
any one, or by two candidates, he who has, or they who have, 
played a greater number of consecutive rubbers than the others 
is, or are, out ; but when all have played the same number, they 
must cut to decide upon the outgoers ; the highest are out. 

ENTRY AND RE-ENTRY. 

21. A candidate wishing to enter a table must declare such in- 
tention prior to any of the players having cut a card, either for 
the purpose of commencing a fresh rubber or of cutting out. 

22. In the formation of fresh tables, those candidates who 
have neither belonged to nor played at any other table have the 
prior right of entry ; the others decide their right of admission by 
cutting. 

23. Any one quitting a table prior to the conclusion of a rubber 
may, with consent of the other three players, appoint a substitute 
in his absence during that rubber. 

24. A player cutting into one table, whilst belonging to 
another, loses his right of re-entry into that latter, and takes his 
chance of cutting in, as if he were a fresh candidate. 

25. If any one break up a table, th* remaining players have 
the prior right to him of entry into any other, and should there 
not be sufficient vacancies at such other table to admit all those 
candidates, they settle their precedence by cutting. 

SHUFFLING. 

26. The pack must neither be shuffled below the table nor so 
that the face of any card be seen. 

27. The pack must not be shuffled during the play of the hand. 

28. A pack, having been played with, must neither be shuffled 
by dealing it into packets, nor across the table. 

29. Each player has a right to shuffle, once only, except as pro- 
vided by Rule 32, prior to a deal, after a false cut [see Law 34], or 
when a new deal [see Law 37] has occurred. 

30. The dealer's partner must collect the cards for the ensuing 
deal, and has the first right to shuffle that pack. 



ENGLISH LAWS, (Whist) 113 

31. Each player after shuffling must place the cards properly- 
collected, and faee downwards, to the left of the player about 
to deal. 

32. The dealer has always the right to shuffle last ; but should 
a card or cards be seen during his shuffling, or whilst giving the 
pack to be cut, he may be compelled to re-shuffle. 

THE DEAL. 

33. Each player deals in his turn ; the right of dealing goes to 
the left. 

• 34. The player on the dealer's right cuts the pack, and, in divid- 
ing it, must not leave fewer than four cards in either packet ; if in 
cutting, or in replacing one of the two packets on the other, a card 
be exposed, or if there be any confusion of the cards, or a doubt as 
to the exact place in which the pack was divided, there must be a 
fresh cut. 

35. When a player, whose duty it is to cut, has once separated 
the pack, he cannot alter his intention ; he can neither re-shuffle 
nor re-cut the cards. 

36. When the pack is cut, should the dealer shuffle the cards, he 
loses his deal. 

A NEW DEAL. 

37. There must be a new deal — 

I. If during a deal, or during the play of a hand, the 

pack be proved incorrect or imperfect. 

II. If any card, excepting the last, be faced in the pack. 

38. If, whilst dealing, a card be exposed by the dealer or his 
partner, should neither of the adversaries have touched the cards, 
the latter can claim a new deal ; a card exposed by either adver- 
sary gives that claim to the dealer, provided that his partner has 
not touched a card ; if a new deal does not take place, the ex- 
posed card cannot be called. 

39. If, during dealing, a player touch any of his cards, the 
adversaries may do the same, without losing their privilege of 
claiming a new deal, should chance give them such option. 

40. If, in dealing, one of the last cards be exposed, and the 
dealer turn up the trump before there is reasonable time for his 
adversaries to decide as to a fresh deal, they do not thereby lose 
their privilege. 

41. If a player, whilst dealing, look at the trump card, his 
adversaries have a right to see it, and may exact a new deal. 

42. If a player take into the hand dealt to him a card belong- 
ing to the other pack, the adversaries, on discovery of the error, 
may decide whether they will have a fresh deal or not. 

A MISDEAL. 

43. A misdeal loses the deal. 



114 (Whist) ENGLISH LAWS. 

44. It is a misdeal — 

I. Unless the cards are dealt into four packets, one at 

a time in regular rotation, beginning with the 
player to the dealer's left. 

II. Should the dealer place the last (/. <?., the trump) card, 

face downwards, on his own, or any other pack. 

III. Should the trump card not come in its regular order 

to the dealer ; but he does not lose his deal if the 
pack be proved imperfect. 

IV. Should a player have fourteen cards, and either of 

the other three less than thirteen. 

V. Should the dealer, under an impression that he has 

made a mistake, either count the cards on the 
table or the remainder of the pack. 

IV. Should the dealer deal two cards at once, or two 
cards to the same hand, and then deal a third; 
but if, prior to dealing that third card, the dealer 
can, by altering the position of one . card only, 
rectify such error, he may do so. except as pro- 
vided by the second paragraph of this Law. 

VII. Should the dealer omit to have the pack cut to him, 
and the adversaries discover the error, prior to the 
trump card being turned up, and before looking 
at their cards, but not after having done so. 

45. A misdeal does not lose the deal if, during the dealing, 
either of the adversaries touch the cards prior to the dealer's part- 
ner having done so ; but should the latter have first interfered with 
the cards, notwithstanding either or both of the adversaries have 
subsequently done the same, the deal is lost. 

46. Should three players have their right number of cards — the 
fourth have less than thirteen, and not discover such deficiency 
until he has played any of his cards, the deal stands good ; should 
he have played, he is as answerable for any revoke he may have 
made as if the missing card, or cards, had been in his hand ; he 
may search the other pack for it, or them. 

47. If a pack, during or after a rubber, be proved incorrect or 
imperfect, such proof does not alter any past score, game, or rubber ; 
that hand in which the imperfection was detected is null and void ; 
the dealer deals again. 

48. Any one dealing out of turn, or with the adversary's cards, 
may be stopped before the trump card is turned up, after which 
the game must proceed as if no mistake had been made. 

49. A player can neither shuffle, cut, nor deal for his partner, 
without the permission of his opponents. 

50. If the adversaries interrupt a dealer whilst dealing, either 
by questioning the score or asserting that it is not his deal, and fail 
to establish such claim, should a misdeal occur, he may deal again. 



ENGLISH LAWS. (Whist) 115 

51. Should a player take his partner's deal and misdeal, the 
latter is liable to the usual penalty, and the adversary next in rota- 
tion to the player who ought to have dealt then deals. 

THE TRUMP CARD. 

52. The dealer, when it is his turn to play to the first trick, 
should take the trump card into his hand ; if left on the table after 
the first trick be turned and quitted, it is liable to be called ; his 
partner may at any time remind him of the liability. 

53. After the dealer has taken the trump card into his hand, it 
cannot be asked for ; a player naming it at any time during the 
play of that hand is liable to have his highest or lowest trump 
called. 

54. If the dealer take the trump card into his hand before it is 
his turn to play, he may be desired to lay it on the table ; should 
he show a wrong card, this card may be called, as also a second, 
a third, etc., until the trump card be produced. 

55. If the dealer declare himself unable to recollect the trump 
card, his highest or lowest trump may be called at anytime during 
that hand, and unless it cause him to revoke, must be played ; the 
call may be repeated, but not changed, i. e. t from highest to low- 
est, or vice versa, until such card is played. 

CARDS LIABLE TO BE CALLED. 

56. All exposed cards are liable to be called, and must be left 
on the table ; but a card is not an exposed card when dropped on 
the floor, or elsewhere below the table. The following are exposed 
cards : — 

I. Two or more cards played at once. 

II. Any card dropped with its face upward, or in any way 

exposed on or above the table, even though snatched , 
up so quickly that no one can name it. 

57. If any one play to an imperfect trick the best card on the 
table, or lead one which is a winning card as against his adversa- 
ries, and then lead again, or play several such winning cards, one 
after the other, without waiting for his partner to play, the latter 
may be called on to win, if he can, the first or any other of those 
tricks, and the other cards thus improperly played are exposed 
cards. 

58. If a player, or players, under the impression that the game 
is lost — or won — or for other reasons — throw his or their cards on 
the table face upward, such cards are exposed, and liable to be 
called, each player's by the adversary ; but should one player alone 
retain his hand, he cannot be forced to abandon it. 

59. If all four players throw their cards on the table face up- 
ward, the hands are abandoned ; and no one can again take up 
his cards. Should this general exhibition show that the game 



116 (Whist.) ENGLISH LAWS. 

might have been saved, or won, neither claim can be entertained, 
unless a revoke be established. The revoking players are then 
liable to the following penalties : they cannot under any circum- 
stances win the game by the result of that hand, and the adversa- 
ries may add three to their score, or deduct three from that of 
the revoking players. 

60. A card detached from the rest of the hand so as to be 
named is liable to be called ; but should the adversary name a 
wrong card, he is liable to have a suit called when he or his part- 
ner have the lead. 

61. If a player who has rendered himself liable to have the 
highest or lowest of a suit called, fail to play as desired, or if when 
called on to lead one suit he lead another, having in his hand one 
or more cards of that suit demanded, he incurs the penalty of a 
revoke. 

62. If any player lead out of turn, his adversaries may either 
call the card erroneously led, or may call a suit from him or his 
partner when it is next the turn of either of them to lead. 

63. If any player lead out of turn, and the three others have fol- 
lowed him, the trick is complete, and the error cannot be rectified ; 
but if only the second, or the second and third, have played to the 
false lead, their cards, on discovery of the mistake, are taken back ; 
there is no penalty against any one, excepting the original offender, 
whose card may be called, or he, or his partner, when either of 
them has next the lead, may be compelled to play any suit de- 
manded by the adversaries. 

64. In no case can a player be compelled to play a card which 
would oblige him to revoke. 

65. The call of a card may be repeated until such card has been 
played. 

66. If a player called on to lead a suit have none of it, the 
penalty is paid. 

CARDS PLAYED IN ERROR, OR NOT PLAYED TO A TRICK. 

67. If the third hand play before the second, the fourth hand 
may play before his partner. 

68. Should the third hand not have played, and the fourth play 
before his partner, the latter may be called on to win, or not to 
win the trick. 

69. _ If any one omit playing to a former trick, and such error be 
not discovered until he has played to the next, the adversaries 
may claim a new deal ; should they decide that the deal stand 
good, the surplus card at the end of the hand is considered to have 
been played to the imperfect trick, but does not constitute a re- 
voke therein. 

70. If any one play two cards to the same trick, or mix his 
trump, or other card, with a trick to which it does not properly 



ENGLISH LAWS. ' (Whist.) 117 

belong, and the mistake be not discovered until the hand is played 
out, he is answerable for all consequent revokes he may have 
made. If, during the play of the hand, the error be detected, the 
tricks may be counted face downward, in order to ascertain 
whether there be among them a card too many ; should this be 
the case, they may be searched, and the card restored ; the player 
is, however, liable for all revokes which he may have meanwhile 
made. 

THE REVOKE. 

71. Is when a player, holding one or more cards of the suit led, 
plays a card of a different suit. 

72. The penalty for a revoke — 

I. Is at the option of the adversaries, who at the end of 

the hand may either take three tricks from the 
revoking player or deduct three points from his 
score, or add three to their own score ; 

II. Can be claimed for as many revokes as occur during 

the hand ; 

III. Is applicable only to the score of the game in which 

it occurs ; 

IV. Cannot be divided, z. e„ a player cannot add one or 

two to his own score and deduct one or two from 
the revoking player ; 

V. Takes precedence of every other score — e. g., the 

claimants two, their opponents nothing ; the former 
add three to their score, and thereby win a treble 
game, even should the latter have made thirteen 
tricks, and held four honours. 

73. A revoke is established if the trick in which it occur be 
turned and quitted, /. e., the hand removed from that trick after it 
has been turned face downward on the table, or if either the re- 
voking player or his partner, whether in his right turn or otherwise, 
lead or play to the following trick. 

74. A player may ask his partner whether he has not a card of 
the suit which he has renounced ; should the question be asked be- 
fore the trick is turned and quitted, subsequent turning and quit- 
ting does not establish the revoke, and the error may be corrected, 
unless the question be answered in the negative, or unless the re- 
voking player or his partner have led or played to the following 
trick. 

75. At the end of the hand, the claimants of a revoke may 
search all the tricks. 

76. If a player discover his mistake in time to save a revoke, the 
adversaries, whenever they think fit, may call the card thus 
played in error, or may require him to play his highest or lowest 
card to that trick in which he has renounced ; any player or 



118 (Whist.) ENGLISH LAWS. 

players who have played after him may withdraw their cards and 
substitute others : the cards withdrawn are not liable to be called. 

77. If a revoke be claimed, and the accused player or his part- 
ner mix the cards before they have been sufficiently examined by 
the adversaries, the revoke is established. The mixing of the 
cards only renders the proof of a revoke difficult ; but does not 
prevent the claim and possible establishment of the penalty. 

j8. A revoke cannot be claimed after the cards have been cut 
for the following deal. 

79. The revoking player and his partner may, under all circum- 
stances, require the hand in which the revoke has been detected 
to be played out. 

80. If a revoke occur, be claimed and proved, bets on the odd 
trick or on amount of score, must be decided by the actual state of 
the latter, after the penalty is paid. 

81. Should the players on both sides subject themselves to the 
penalty of one or more revokes, neither can win the game ; each is 
punished at the discretion of his adversary. 

82. In whatever way the penalty be enforced, under no circum- 
stances can a player win the game by the result, of the hand during 
which he has revoked ; he cannot score more than four. (See Law 
61.) 

CALLING FOR NEW CARDS. 

83. Any player (on paying for them) before, but not after, the 
pack be cut for the deal, may call for fresh cards. He must call 
for two new packs, of which the dealer takes his choice. 

GENERAL RULES. 

84. Where a player and his partner have an option of exacting 
from their adversaries one of two penalties, they should agree who 
is to make the election, but must not consult with one another 
which of the two penalties it is advisable to exact; if they do so 
consult, they lose their right ; and if either of them, with or with- 
out consent of his partner, demand a penalty to which he is en- 
titled, such decision is final. 

[This rule does not apply in exacting the penalties for a revoke ; 
partners have then a right to consult.] 

85. Any one during the play of a trick, or after the four cards 
are played, and before, but not after, they are touched for the pur- 
pose of gathering them together, may demand that the cards be 
placed before their respective players. 

86. If any one, prior to his partner playing, should call atten- 
tion to the trick — either by saying that it is his, or by naming his 
card, or, without being required so to do, by drawing it toward 
him — the adversaries may require that opponent's partner to play 
the highest or lowest of the suit then led, or to win or lose the trick 



ENGLISH LAWS. (Whist) 119 

87. In all cases where a penalty has been incurred, the offender 
is bound to give reasonable time for the decision of his adversaries. 

88. If a bystander make any remark which calls the attention 
of a player or players to an oversight affecting the score, he is 
liable to be called on, by the players only, to pay the stakes and all 
"bets on that game or rubber. 

89. A bystander, by agreement among the players, may de- 
cide any question. 

90. A card or cards torn or marked must be either replaced by 
agreement, or new cards called at the expense of the table. 

■91. Any player may demand to see the last trick turned, and 
no more. Under no circumstances can more than eight cards be 
seen during the play of the hand, viz.: the four cards on the table 
which have not been turned and quitted, and the last trick turned. 

ETIQUETTE OF WHIST. 

The following rules belong to the established Etiquette of Whist. 
They are not called laws, as it is difficult — in some cases im- 
possible — to apply any penalty to their infraction, and the only 
remedy is to cease to play with players who habitually disregard 
them : 

Two packs of cards are invariably used at Clubs ; if possible, 
this should be adhered to. 

Any one, having the lead and several winning cards to play, 
should not draw a second card cut of his hand until his partner 
has played to the first trick, such act being a distinct intimation 
that the former has played a winning card. 

No intimation whatever, by word or gesture, should be given by 
a player as to the state of his hand, or of the game. 

A player who desires the cards to be placed, or who demands to 
see the last trick, should do it for his own information only, and 
not in order to invite the attention of his partner. 

No player should object to refer to a bystander who professes 
himself uninterested in the game, and able to decide any disputed 
question of facts ; as to who played any particular card — whether 
honours were claimed though not scored, or vice versa — etc., etc. 

It is unfair to revoke purposely ; having made a revoke, a player 
is not justified in making a second in order to conceal the first. 

Until the players have made such bets as they wish, bets should 
not be made with bystanders. 

Bystanders should make no remark, neither should they by word 
or gesture give any intimation of the state of the game until con- 
cluded and scored, nor should they walk round the table to look 
at the different hands. 

No one should look over the hand of a player against whom h© 
is betting, 



120 (Whist) ENGLISH LAWS. 

DUMMY. 

Is played by three players. 

One hand, called Dummy's, lies exposed on the table. 
The laws are the same as those of Whist, with the following 
exceptions : 

I. Dummy deals at the commencement of each rubber. 

II. Dummy is not liable to the penalty for a revoke, as his ad- 
versaries see his cards ; should he revoke, and the error not be 
discovered until the trick is turned and quitted, it stands good. 

III. Dummy being blind and deaf, his partner is not liable to 
any penalty for an error whence he can gain no advantage. Thus, 
he may expose some or all of his cards — or may declare that he 
has the game, or trick, etc., without incurring any penalty; if, 
however, he lead from Dummy's hand when he should lead from 
his own, or vice versd, a suit may be called from the hand which 
ought to have led. 

DOUBLE DUMMY. 

Is played by two players, each having a Dummy or oxposed 
hand for his partner. The laws of the game do not differ from 
Dummy Whist, except in the following special Law : There is no 
misdeal, as the deal is a disadvantage. 



THE POKER FAMILY. 



Properly speaking, Poker is not the founder, but simply the most 
famous representative of a very ancient and always very popular 
family of games, all of which can be traced to one source, the old 
French game of Gilet, which was undoubtedly of Italian origin, 
perhaps a variety of Primero. Gilet we find changed to Brelan in 
the time of Charles IX., and although Brelan is no longer played, 
the word is still used in all French games to signify triplets, and 
" brelan-carre " is the common French term for four of a kind in 
le fioker Americain. From Brelan we trace the French games 
of Bouillotte, and Ambigu, and the English game of Brag ; but the 
game of poker, as first played in the United States, five cards to 
each player froni a twenty-card pack, is undoubtedly the Persian 
game of as nas. 

The peculiar and distinguishing characteristic of Poker we find 
well described by Seymour, in his chapter on " Brag," in the 
"Court Gamester," 1719: "The endeavour to impose on the 
judgment of the rest who play, and particularly on the person who 
chiefly offers to oppose you, by boasting or bragging of the cards 
in your hand. Those who by fashioning their looks and gestures, 
can give a proper air to their actions, as will so deceive an un- 
skilful antagonist, that sometimes a pair of fives, trays or deuces, 
in such a hand, with the advantage of his composed countenance, 
and subtle manner of over-awing the other, shall out-brag a much 
greater hand, and win the stakes, with great applause and laughter 
on his side from the whole company." 

Quite a number of card games retain the feature of pairs, triplets, 
sequences, and flushes, but omit the element of brag or bluff, and 
can therefore hardly be considered full-blooded members of the 
poker family. Whiskey Poker, for instance, has really little or 
nothing in common with the true spirit of poker, and is simply the 
very ancient game of Commerce, played with five cards instead of 
three. The descriptions of this game in the earliest Hoyles betray 
its French origin ; particularly in the use of the piquet pack ; the 
French custom of cutting to the left and dealing to the right ; and 
the use of the words " brelan," and " tricon." In later descriptions 
of the " new form " of Commerce, about 1835, we find 52 cards 
are used, and dealt from left to right, and the names of the com- 
binations are changed to " pairs-royal," " sequences," and 
" flushes." 

There appears to be little or nothing modern in the game of 

m 



122 (Poker.) THE POKER FAMILY, 

Poker but the increased number of cards dealt to each player, 
which makes it possible for one to hold double combinations, such 
as two pairs, triplets with a pair, etc. The old games were all 
played with three cards only, and the " brelan-carre," or four of a 
kind, could be made only by combining the three cards held by the 
player with the card which was sometimes turned up on the talon, 
or remainder of the pack. The blind, the straddle, the raise, the 
bluff, table stakes, and freeze-out, are all to be found in Bouil- 
lotte, which flourished in the time of the French Revolution, and 
the " draw " from the remainder of the pack existed in the old 
French game of Ambigu. 

The first mention we have of poker in print is in Green's Re- 
formed Gambler, which contains a description of a game of poker 
played on a river steamer in June, 1834. The author undertook 
a series of investigations with a view to discovering the origin of 
poker, the results of which were published in the N. Y. Sun, May 
22, 1904. It would seem that poker came from Persia to this coun- 
try by way of New Orleans. The French settlers in Louisiana, 
recognizing the similarity between the combinations held in the 
newcomer from the East, as nas, and those with which they were 
already familiar in their own game of poque, called the Persian 
game poque, instead of as nas, and our present word, "poker," 
seems to be nothing but a mispronunciation of the French term, 
dividing it into two syllables, as if it were "po-que. i? 

There is no authoritative code of laws for the game of Poker, 
simply because the best clubs do not admit the game to their 
card rooms, and consequently decry the necessity for adopting any 
laws for its government. In the absence of any official code, the 
daily press is called upon for hundreds of decisions every week. 
The author has gathered and compared a great number of these 
newspaper rulings, and has drawn from them and other sources to 
form a brief code of poker laws, which will be found amply suffi- 
cient to cover all irregularities for which any penalty can be en- 
forced, or which interfere with the rights of any individual, flayer. 



DRAW POKER. 

CARDS. Poker is played with a full pack of fifty-two cards, 
ranking: AKQJ 1098765432; the ace being the highest or 
lowest in play, according to the wish of the 
holder, but ranking below the deuce in cutting. 
In some localities a special pack of sixty cards 
is used, the eight extra cards being elevens and 



K* 



*** 
*** 

*** 

|jfr*,»| 444 twelves in each suit, which rank above the ten, 

and below the Jack. It is very unusual to play 

Poker with two packs. 



CUTTING. 



(Poker.) 123 



COUNTERS, or CHIPS. Although not absolutely neces- 
sary, counters are much more convenient than money. The most 
common are red, white, and blue circular chips, which should 
" stack up " accurately, so that equal numbers may be measured 
without counting them. The red are usually worth five whites, 
and the blue worth five reds, or twenty-five whites. At the begin- 
ning of the game one player should act as banker, and be respon- 
sible for all counters at the table. It is usual for each player to 
purchase, at the beginning of the game, the equivalent of 100 
white counters in white, red, and blue. 

. PLAYERS. Poker may be played by any number of persons 
from two to seven. When there are more than seven candidates 
for play, two tables should be formed, unless the majority vote 
against it. In some localities it is the custom for the dealer to take 
no cards when there are eight players, which is thought to make a 
better game than two tables of only four players each. When the 
sixty-card pack is used, eight players may take cards. 

CUTTING. The players who shall form the table, and their 
positions at the beginning of the game, must be decided by throw- 
ing round a card to each candidate, face up, or by drawing cards 
from an outspread pack. If there are more than eight candidates, 
the four cutting the highest cards should play together at one table, 
and the others at another table. If there are an even number of 
candidates, the tables divide evenly, but if the number is odd, th tt 
smaller table is formed by those cutting the highest cards. 

The table formed, the pack must be shuffled and spread, and 
positions drawn for. The player cutting the lowest card has the 
choice of seats, and must deal the first hand. The player cutting 
the next lowest has the next choice, and so on, until all are seated. 

TIES. If the first cut does not decide, those tying must cut 
again. Should two or more players cut cards of equal value^ the 
new cut will decide nothing but the tie ; for even should one of 
those cutting to decide a tie draw a card lower than one previously 
cut by another player, the original low cannot be deprived of his 
right. For instance : there are six players. 



First cut is :- 



Second cut is : — 



* * 

* * 




* * 
























The 5 and 7 have the first and second choice of seats ; 
and 4 the third and fourth choice. 



the 2 



124 (Poker.) STAKES. 

PLAYERS 9 POSITIONS. There are only three distinc- 
tive positions at the poker table : the dealer ; the pone; and the 
age. The pone is the player on the dealer's right, and the age is 
the one on his left. 

STAKES. Before play begins, or a card is dealt, the value of 
the counters must be decided, and a limit must be agreed upon. 
There are four limitations in Draw Poker, and they govern or fix 
the maximum of the four principal stakes : the blind ; the straddle ; 
the ante ; and the bet or raise. 

The blind is the amount put up by the age before he sees 
anything, and should be limited to one white counter, as the blind 
is the smallest stake in the game. In some places it is permis- 
sible for the age to make the blind any amount he pleases within 
half the betting limit ; but such a practice is a direct violation of 
the principles of the game, which require that the amount of the 
blind shall bear a fixed proportion to the limit of the betting. 

The straddle is a double blind,- sometimes put up by the player 
to the left of the age, and like the blind, without seeing anything. 
This allows the player on the left of the straddler to double again, 
or put up four times the amount of the original blind. This strad- 
dling process is usually limited to one-fourth of the betting limit ; 
that is, if the betting limit is fifty counters, the doubling of the 
blind must cease when a player puts up sixteen, for another double 
would carry it to thirty-two, which would be more than half the 
limit for a bet or raise. 

The ante is the amount put up by each player after he has 
seen his cards, but before he draws to improve his hand. The 
terms "ante" and "blind" are often confused. The blind is a com- 
pulsory stake, and must be put up before the player has seen any- 
thing. He does not even know whether or not he will be dealt a 
foul hand, or whether it will be a misdeal. He has not even seen the 
cards cut. The ante, on the other hand, is a voluntary bet, and is 
a sort of entrance fee, which is paid before the hand is complete, 
but after the first part of it has been seen. The ante is always 
twice the amount of the blind, whatever that may be. If the blind 
has been increased by the process of straddling, the ante must be 
twice the amount of the last straddle, but must not exceed the 
betting limit. This is why the straddles are limited. 

The largest het, or raise, which a player is allowed to make is 
generally known as the limit. This limit is not the greatest 
amount that may be bet on one hand, but is the maximum amount 
by which one player may increase his bet over that of another 
player. For instance : If no one has bet, A may bet the limit on 
his hand ; B may then put up a similar amount, which is called 
seeing him, and may then raise him any further sum within the 
limit fixed for betting. If B raises the limit, it is obvious that he 
has placed in the pool twice the amount of the betting limit ; but 



DEALING. (Poker.) 125 

bis raise over A's bet is within the betting limit. If another player 
should raise B again, he would be putting up three times the limit; 
A's bet, B's raise, and his own raise. 

In the absence of any definite arrangement, it is usual to make 
the betting limit fifty times the amount of the blind. That is, if 
the value of the blind, or one' white counter, is five cents, the limit 
of a bet or raise will be two dollars and a half, or two blue count- 
ers. This fixes the ante at two white counters, or ten cents, in the 
absence of straddles, and limits the straddling to the fourth player 
from the age, or sixteen white counters. This proportion makes a 
very fair game, and gives a player some opportunity to vary his 
betting according to his estimate of the value of his hand. 
Where the blind is five cents, the ante ten, and the limit twenty- 
five, the game ceases to* be Poker, and becomes a species of sliow- 
dotvn. It is universally admitted by good judges that a player 
can lose more money at twenty-five cent show-down than he will 
at two-and-a-half Poker. 

There are several other variations in the manner of arranging 
the stakes and the betting limits, but they will be better under- 
stood after the game itself has been described. 

DEALING. The age having put up the amount of the blind,, 
and the cards having been shuffled by any player who chooses to* 
avail himself of the privilege, the dealer last, they are presented to* 
the pone to be cut. The pone may either cut them, or signify- 
that he does not wish to do so by tapping the pack with his. 
knuckles. Should the pone decline to cut, no other player can. 
insist on his so doing, nor do it for him. Beginning on his left, 
the dealer distributes the cards face down one at a time in rotation, 
until each player has received five cards. The deal passes to the 
left, and each player deals in turn. 

IBMEGULAMITIES IN THE DEAL. The follow- 
ing rules regarding the deal should be strictly observed : — 

If any card is found faced in the pack the dealer must deal- 
again. Should the dealer, or the wind, turn over any card, the- 
player to whom it is dealt must take it ; but the same player can- 
not be compelled to take two exposed cards. Should such a com- 
bination occur, there must be a fresh deal by the same dealer. If 
the player exposes his cards himself, he has no remedy. 

Should any player receive more or less than his correct number 
of cards, and discover the error before he looks at any card in his 
hand, or lifts it from the table, he may demand a fresh deal if no 
bet has been made ; or he may ask the dealer to give him another 
from the pack if he has too few ; or to draw a card if he has too 
many. Cards so drawn must not be exposed, but should be 
placed on the bottom of the pack. 

If the number of the hands dealt does not agree with the num- 
ber of players, there must be a new deal. 



126 (Poker.) STRADDLING. 

If two or more cards are dealt at a time, the dealer may take 
back the card or cards improperly dealt if he discovers the error 
before dealing to the next player; otherwise there must be a new 
deal. 

A misdeal does not lose the deal. The misdealer must deal 
again. 

Should a player take up his hand, or look at any card in it, he is 
not entitled to any remedy. If he has more or less than the proper 
number of cards, his hand is foul, and must be abandoned, the 
player forfeiting any interest he may have in that deal, and any 
stake he may have put up on that hand. In all gambling houses, 
the invariable rule is to call a short hand foul; although there 
should be no objection to playing against a man with only four 
cards, which cannot be increased to five, even by the draw. 

STRADDLING, During the deal, or at any time before he 
looks at any card in his hand, the player to the left of the age may 
straddle the blind by putting up double the amount put up by 
the age. The only privilege this secures to the straddler is that 
of having the last say as to whether or nor he will make good his 
ante and draw cards. Should he refuse to straddle, no other 
player can do so ; but if he straddles, the player on his left 
can straddle him again by doubling the amount he puts up, which 
will be four times the amount of the blind. This will open 
the privilege to the next player on the left again, and so on until 
the limit of straddling is reached ; but if one player refuses to 
straddle, no other following him can do so. Good players seldom 
or never straddle, as the only effect of it is to increase the amount 
of the ante. 

METHOD OF PLATING. The cards dealt, the players 
take up and examine their hands. The careful poker player 
always " spreads " his cards before taking them up, to be sure 
that he has neither more nor less than five, and he lifts them in 




Spreading. Squeezing. 

such a way that the palm and fingers of his right hand conceal the 
face of the first. card, while the thumb of the left hand separates 
the others just sufficiently to allow him to read the index or 
" squeezer " marks on the edges. 



THE HANDS, 



(Poker.) 127 



The object of this examination is to ascertain the value of the 
hand dealt to him, and to see whether or not it is worth while try- 
ing to improve it by discarding certain cards and drawing others 
in their place. The player should not only be thoroughly familiar 
with the relative value of the various combinations which may be 
held at Poker, but should have some idea of the chances for and 
against better combinations being held by other players, and should 
also know the odds against improving any given combination by 
drawing to it. 

The value of this technical knowledge will be obvious w T hen it is 
remembered that a player may have a hand dealt to him which he 
knows is comparatively worthless as it is, and the chances for 
improving which are only one in twelve, but which he must bet on 
at odds of one in three, or abandon it. Such a proceeding would 
evidently be a losing game, for if the experiment were tried 
twelve times the player would win once only, and would lose 
eleven times. This would be paying eleven dollars to win three ; 
yet poker players are continually doing this. 

HANK OF THE HANDS. The various combinations at 
Poker outrank one another in the following order, beginning with 
the lowest. Cards with a star over them add nothing to the 
value of the hand, and may be discarded. The figures on the 
right are the odds against such a hand being dealt to any individ- 
ual player. 



Five cards of various 
suits; not in sequence, 
and without a pair. 



B 


* * 

* 


S? 9? 




* 
* 



Even. 



One Pair. Two cards 
of one kind and three use- 
less cards. 




34 

to 

25 



Two Pairs. Two of 

one kind ; two of another 
kind ; and one useless 
card. 



' 


if 


* 
* 
* 


* 
* 
* 


9? <? 



20 

to 

I 



* Threes. Three of one 
kind, and two useless 
cards. 




128 (Pofcer.) 



HANDS. 



Straight. All five 
cards in sequence, but 
of various suits. 

Flush. All five 
cards of one suit, but 
not in sequence. 

Full Hand. Three 
of one kind, and two 
of another kind; no 
useless cards. 









* * 
4- * 





O 


* 4> 




<& 


n 


* * 




* 
* 
♦ 



254 
to 

i 

508 

to 

I 






000000 o 
000000 0000 



72192 
to 

I 




Fours. Four cards 0] 4 *| 4- *l p <? ^2Si| 4164 

of one kind, and one oo****^^ {K to 

useless card. v^Si/ 1 

Oj [♦ ♦] |4» 4»| [2_2j|3Sl 

Straight Flush. 

"Five cards of the same 
suit, in sequence with 
jone another. 

JRoyal Flush. A 

straight flush which is 
ace high. 

When hands are of the same rank, their relative value is de- 
termined by the denomination of the cards they contain. For 
instance : A hand without a pair, sequence, or flush is called by 
its highest card ; " ace high," or " Jack high," as the case may 
be. As between two such hands, the one containing the high- 
est card would be the better, but either would be outclassed by 
a hand with a pair in it, however small. A hand with a pair 
of nines in it would outrank one with a pair of sevens, even 
though the cards accompanying the nines were only a deuce, 
three and four, while those with the sevens were an ace, King and 
Queen. But should the pairs be alike in both hands ; such as 
tens, the highest card outside the pair would decide the rank of 
the hands, and if those were also alike, the next card, or perhaps 
the fifth would have to be considered. Should the three odd cards 
an each hand be identical, the hands would be a tie, and would 
divide any pool to which each had a claim. Two flushes would 
•decide their rank in the same manner. If both were ace and Jack 
high, the third card in one being a nine, and in the other an eight, 
the nine would win. In full hands the rank of the triplets decides 
the value of the hand. Three Queens and a pair of deuces will . 



HANDS. 



(Poker.) 129 



beat three Jacks and a pair ot aces. In straights, the highest card 
of the sequence wins ; not necessarily the highest card in the 
hand, for a player may have a sequence of A 2 3 4 5, which is 
only five high, and would be beaten by a sequence of 2 3 4 5 6. 
The ace must either begin or end a sequence, for a player is not 
allowed to call such a combination as Q K A 2 3 a straight. 

It was evidently the intention of those who invented Poker that 
the hands most difficult to obtain should be the best, and should 
outrank hands that occurred more frequently. A glance at the 
table of odds will show that this principle has been carried out as 
far as the various denominations of hands go ; but when we come 
to the members of the groups the principle is violated. In hands 
not containing a pair, for instance, ace high will beat Jack high, 
but it is much more common to hold ace high than Jack high. 
The exact proportion is 503 to 127. A hand of five cards only 
seven high but not containing a pair, is rarer than a flush ; the 
proportion being 408 to 510. When we come to two pairs, we 
find the same inversion of probability and value. A player will 
hold " aces up," that is, a pair of aces and another pair inferior to 
aces, twelve times as often as he will hold "threes up." In the 
opinion of the author, in all hands that do not contain a pair f 
"seven high" should be the best instead of the lowest, and ace- 
high should be the lowest. In hands containing two pairs,, 
"threes up" should be the highest, and "aces up" the lowest, 

ECCENTRIC HANDS. In addition to the regular poker 
hands, which are those already given, there are a few combinations 
which are played in some parts of the country, especially in the 
South, either as matter of local custom or by agreement. When 
any of these are played, it would be well for the person who is not 
accustomed to them to have a distinct understanding in advance, 
just what combinations shall be allowed and what hands they will 
beat. There are four of these eccentric hands, and the figures on 
the right are the odds against their being dealt to any individual 
player : 

Blaze. Five picture 
cards. Beat two pairs; 
but lose to three of a 
kind. 

■ Tiger. Must be seven 
high and deuce low ; with- 
out a pair, sequence or 
flush. It beats a straight; 
but loses to a flush. 









* * 

♦ 4 


* * 

* 

* * 




* 



636 

to 
I 



130 (Poker.) 



JOKER POKER. 



1 ~ \ 






*** 









* * 



1 


s? 












* * 

* 4- 



423 

to 

I 



to 

I 



Skip, or Butch 
Straight. Any se- 
quence of alternate cards, 
of various suits. Beats 
two pairs and a blaze. 

Round-the-Corner. 

Any straight in which the 
ace connects the top and 
bottom. Beats threes ; 
but any regular straight 
will beat it. 

The rank of these extra hands has evidently been assigned by 
guess-work. The absurdity of their appraised value will be evident 
if we look at the first of them, the blaze, which is usually played 
to beat two pairs. As it is impossible to have a blaze which does 
not contain two pairs of court cards, all that they beat is aces up 
or kings up. If it were ranked, like other poker hands, by the 
difficulty of getting it, a blaze should beat a full hand. 

All these hands are improperly placed in the scale of poker 
values, as will be seen by comparing the odds against them. In 
any games to which these eccentric hands are admitted, the rank 
of all the combinations would be as follows, if poker principles 
were followed throughout : — 

Denomination. Odds against. 

One pair 1 % to 1 

Two pairs 20 to 1 

Three of a kind 46 to 1 

Sequence or straight 254 to 1 

Skip or Dutch straight 423 to 1 

Flush 508 to 1 

Tiger [Big or Little Dog] 636 to 1 

Full hand 693 to 1 

Round-the-corner straight 848 to 1 

Blaze 3008 to 1 

Four of a kind 4164 to 1 

Straight flush 72192 to 1 

Royal Flush [Ace high] 649739 to 1 

When the true rank of these eccentric hands is not allowed, local 
custom must decide what they will beat. 

JOKER POKER, or 31ISTIGRTS. It is not uncommon 
to leave the joker, or blank card, in the pack. The player to whom 
this card is dealt may call it anything he pleases. If he has a pair 
of aces, and the joker, he may call them three aces. If he has 
four clubs, and the joker, he may call it a flush ; or he may make 



. THE ANTE. (Poker.) 131 

the joker fill out a straight. If he has four of a kind, and the joker, 
he can beat a royal flush by calling his hand five of a kind. In 
case of ties, the hand with the mistigris wins ; that is to say, an 
ace and the joker will beat two aces. 

A player holding the joker may even call it a duplicate of a card 
already in his hand. For instance ; he might hold the A J 8 5 of 
hearts and the joker against the A K Q 7 3 of clubs. If he calls 
the joker the king of hearts, the club flush still beats him as it is 
queen next. He must call it the ace, which makes his flush ace- 
ace high. 

PROBABILITIES. In estimating the value of his hand 
as compared to that of any other player, before the draw, the 
theory of probabilities is of little or no use, and the calculations 
will vary with the number of players engaged. For instance : If 
five are playing, some one should have two pairs every fourth 
deal, because in four deals twenty hands will be given out. If 
seven are playing, it is probable that five of them will hold a pair 
of some kind before the draw. Unfortunately, these calculations 
are not of the slightest practical use to a poker player, because 
although three of a kind may not be dealt to a player more than 
once in forty-five times on the average, it is quite a common oc- 
currence for two players to have threes dealt to each of them at the 
same time. The considerations which must guide the player in 
judging the comparative value of his hand, both before and after 
the draw, must be left until we come to the suggestions for good 

THE ANTE. The player to the left of the age is the one 

who must make the first announcement of his opinion of his hand, 
unless he has straddled, in which case the player on the left of the 
last straddler has the first (6 say." If he considers his hand good 
enough to draw to, let us say a pair of Kings, he must place in 
the pool, or toward the centre of the table, double the amount of 
the blind, or of the last straddle, if any. This is called the ante, 
because it is made before playing the hand, whereas the blind is 
made before seeing it. The player is not restricted to double the 
amount of the blind or straddle ; he may bet as much more as he 
pleases within the limit fixed at the beginning of the game. For 
instance : If there has been only one straddle he must put up 
four white counters or pass out of the game for that deal. But if 
he puts up the four, he may put up as many more as he pleases 
within the limit, which is two blues, or fifty whites. This is called 
raising the ante. If he does not care to pay twice the amount 
of the blind or straddle for the privilege of drawing cards to im- 
prove his hand, he must throw his cards face downward on the 
table in front of the player whose turn it will be to deal next. 
Reasonable time must be allowed for a player to make his de- 
cision; but having made it, he must abide by it ; a hand once 



132 (Poker.) TEE ANTE. 

thrown down cannot be taken up again, and counters once placed 
in the pool, and the hand removed from them, cannot be taken 
out again, even though placed in the pool by mistake. 

The player who has the first say having made his decision, the 
player next him on the left must then decide. He must put into 
the pool an amount equal to that deposited by the first player, or 
abandon his hand. Suppose there has been no straddle, and that 
all conclude to stay, as it is called. They each in turn put up two 
white counters until it comes to the age. The one white counter 
he has already put up as a blind belongs to the pool, but by add- 
ing one to it he can make his ante good, and draw cards, always 
provided no player has raised the ante. If any player has put 
more counters into the pool than the amount of the ante, all the 
other players must put up a like amount, or throw down their 
hands. Suppose five play, and A has the age. B antes two 
counters, and C puts up seven, the ante and a raise of five. If D 
and E come in, they must put up seven counters also ; and the age, 
A, must put up six to make his ante good. It now comes to B, who 
.must either lose the two he has already put up, or add five more 
to them. Let us suppose that D puts up the seven, and that E, 
the dealer, puts up twelve. This will force the age to put up 
eleven ; B to put up ten ; and C to put up five more, This will 
make each player's ante an equal amount, twelve counters, and 
they will then be ready to draw cards. No one can now raise the 
ante- any further, because it is no one's turn to " say." 

It will thus be seen that every player in his turn can do one of 
three things, which are sometimes called the a b c of Poker : He 
can Abdicate; by throwing down his hand, and abandoning 
whatever money he has already placed in the pool. He can Bet- 
ter ; by putting up more money than any player before him, which 
is sometimes called " going better." Or, he can Call, by making 
his amount in the pool equal to the highest bet already made. 

Should any player increase the ante to such an extent that none 
of the others care to call him, they must of course throw down 
their hands, and as there is no one to play against him, the one 
who made the last increase in the ante takes down all the counters 
in the pool. This is called taking the pot, and the cards are 
gathered, shuffled, and dealt again, the deal passing to the player 
who was the age. 

DBA WING CARDS. All those who have made the ante 
good have the privilege of discarding, face downward, as many 
cards as they please, in the place of which they may draw others. 
The age has the first draw, and can take any number of cards 
from one to five, or he may stand pat, refusing to draw any. 
A player cannot receive from the dealer more or less cards than 
he discards ; so that if a person is allowed to play with a short 
hand, of four cards only, he will still have only four cards after 



1 * 1 1 ♦ I lo o\ 



THE DRAW. (Poker.) 133 

the draw. If his hand was foul, it will remain so after the draw. 
In drawing, a player may keep or discard what cards he pleases. 
There is no rule to prevent his throwing away a pair of aces and 
keeping three clubs if he is so inclined ; but the general practice is 
for the player to retain whatever pairs or triplets he may have, 
and to draw to them. Four cards of a straight or a flush may be 
drawn to in the same way, and some make a practice of drawing 
to one or two high cards, such as an ace and a king, when they 
have no other chance. Some hands offer opportunities to vary 
the draw. For instance : A player has dealt to him a small pair; 
but finds he has also four 
cards of a straight. He 
can discard three cards and " 
draw to the pair ; or one 
card, and draw to the 
straight ; or two cards, keeping his ace in the hope of making two 
good pairs, aces up. The details of the best methods of drawing 
to various combinations will be discussed when we 'come to sug- 
gestions for good play. 

In drawing cards, each player in turn who has made good his 
ante, beginning with the age, must ask the dealer for the number 
of card's he wants. The demand must be made so that every 
player can hear, because after the cards have been delivered by 
the dealer no one has the right to be informed how many cards 
any player drew. When the dealer comes to his own hand, he 
must distinctly announce the number of cards he takes. He must 
also inform any player asking him how many cards he took, pro- 
vided the question is put before the player asking it has made a 
bet, and it is put by a player who has made good his ante to draw 
cards. 

In dealing the cards for the draw, the pack is not cut again, the 
cards being dealt from the top, beginning where the deal before 
the draw left off. As each player asks for his cards he must dis- 
card those he wants replaced, and he must receive the entire num- 
ber he asks for before the next player is helped. In some places it 
is the custom for all those who have made good the ante to discard 
before any cards are given out. This is not good poker, as it pre- 
vents the dealer from seeing that the number discarded is equal to 
the number asked for. Should any card be found faced in the 
pack, it must be placed on the table among the discards. Should 
any card be exposed by the dealer in giving out the cards, or be 
blown over by the wind before the player, has touched it, such 
card must not be taken by the player under any circumstances, 
but must be placed with the discards on the table. A player whose 
card is exposed in this manner does not receive a card to take its 
place until all the other players have been helped. [The object of 
this rule is to prevent a dealer from altering the run of the cards 
in the draw.] 



134 (Poker.) THE DRAW. 

Should a player ask for an incorrect number of cards and they 
be given him, he must take them if the next player has been 
helped. If too many, he must discard before seeing them. If too 
few, he must play them. If he has taken them up and has too 
many, his hand is foul, and shuts him out of that pool. If the 
dealer gives himself more cards than he needs he is compelled to 
take them. For instance : He draws three cards to a pair ; but or: 
taking up his hand he finds he had triplets, and really wanted only 
two cards. He cannot change his draw, and must take the three 
cards he has dealt off. There is a penalty for not following the 
strict rule of the game, which is for each player, including the 
dealer, to discard before he draws. 

Should the dealer give any player more cards than he asked for. 
and the player discover the error before taking them up or look* 
ing at any of them, the dealer must withdraw the surplus card, 
and place it on the top of the pack. Should the dealer give a 
player fewer cards than he asks for, he must supply the deficiency 
when his attention is called to it, without waiting to supply the 
other players. If a player has more or less than five cards after 
the draw, his hand is foul, and he must abandon it, together with 
all he may have already staked in the pool. 

The dealer may be asked how many cards he drew; but he is 
not allowed to say how many cards he gave to any other player. 
Each player must watch the draw for himself. 

The last card of the pack must not be dealt. When only two 
cards remain, the discards and abandoned hands must be gathered, 
shuffled, and presented to the pone to be cut,_and the deal then 
completed. 

BETTING UP THE HANDS. All those who made 
good the ante having been supplied with cards, the next player 
who holds cards on the left of the age must make the first bet. 
Should the age have declined to make good his ante, or have 
passed out before the draw, that does not transfer the privilege of 
having the last say to any other player ; because the peculiar privi- 
lege of the age,— having the last say,— is given in consideration o:. 
the blind, which he is compelled to pay, and no other player can 
have that privilege, because no other player is obliged to play. 
Even if a player has straddled the blind, he must still make the 
first bet after the draw, because he straddled of his own free will, 
and knew at the time that the only advantage the straddle would 
give him was the last say as to whether or not he would make 
good his ante and draw cards. 

If the player next to the age has passed out before the draw, 
the next player to the left who still holds cards must, make the 
first bet. The player whose turn it is to bet must either do so, or 
throw his hand face downward in front of the player whose turn 
it will be to deal next. If he bets, he can put up any amount from 



BETTING. (Poker.) 135 

one white counter to the limit, two blues. It then becomes the turn 
of the player next on his left who still holds cards to abdicate, 
better, or call. If he calls, he does so by placing in the pool an 
amount equal to that staked by the last player, and it then becomes 
the turn of the next player on the left to say what he will do. But 
if he goes, better, he adds to the amount staked by the player on 
his right any further sum he sees fit, within the limit of two blues. 
Each player in turn has the same privilege, the age having the last 
say. 

Suppose five play, and that A has the age. B has straddled, 
and all but the dealer have made good the ante and drawn cards. 
There are sixteen white counters in the pool, B's straddle having 
made the ante four instead of two. Suppose B bets a red counter, 
and C then throws down his hand. D sees B, by putting up a 
red counter ; and he then raises him, by putting up two blues, 
increasing his bet as much as the limit will allow him. The age 
must now abandon his hand or put up one red and two blues to 
call D, without knowing what B proposes to do. Let us suppose 
he sees D, and raises another two blues. B must now retire, or 
put up four blues to call A, without knowing what D will do. He 
can raise the bet another two blues, or one blue, or a red, or a 
white even, if he is so minded. If he declines to raise, he cannot 
prevent D from so doing, because D still has the privilege of re- 
plying to A's raise, and as long as a player has any say about 
anything, whether it is to abdicate, better, or call, he can do any 
one of the three. It is only when there is no bet made, or when 
his own bet is either not called or not raised, that a player has 
nothing to say. Let us suppose B puts up the four blues to call A. 
It is now D's turn. If he puts up two blues, each will have an 
equal amount in the pool, and as no one will have anything more 
to say, the betting must stop, and the hands must be shown. But 
if D raises A again, by putting up four blues instead of two, he 
gives A another say, and perhaps A will raise D in turn. Although 
B may have had quite enough of this, he must either put up four 
more blues, the two raised by D and the further raise by A, or he 
must abandon his hand. If B throw T s down his cards he loses all 
claim to what he has already staked in the pool, four blues and a 
red, besides his straddle and ante. Let us suppose he drops out, 
and that D just calls A, by putting up two blues only, making the 
amount he has in the pool exactly equal to A's, eight blues and a 
red, besides the antes. This prevents A from going any further, 
because it is not his turn to say anything. He is not asked to 
meet any one's raise, nor to make any bet himself, but simply to 
show his hand, in order to see whether or not it is better than D's. 

SHOWING SANDS. It is the general usage that the 
hand called must be shown first. In this case A's hand is called, 
for D was the one who called a halt on A in the betting, and 



136 (Poker.) SHOWING HANDS. 

stopped him from going any further. The strict laws of the game 
require that both hands must be shown, and if there are more than 
two in the final call, all must be shown to the table. The excuse 
generally made for not showing the losing hand is that the man 
with the worse hand paid to see the better hand ; but it must 
not be forgotten that the man with the better hand has paid ex- 
actly the same amount, and is equally entitled to see the worse 
hand. There is an excellent rule in some clubs that a player re- 
fusing to show his hand in a call shall refund the amount of the 
antes to all the other players, or pay all the antes in the next jack 
pot. The rule of showing both hands is a safeguard against col- 
lusion between two players, one of whom might have a fairly good 
hand, and the other nothing ; but by mutually raising each other 
back and forth they could force any other player out of the pool. 
The good hand could then be called and shown, the confederate 
simply saying, " That is good, " and throwing down his hand. Pro- 
fessionals call this system of cheating, " raising out." 

When the hands are called and shown, the best poker hand 
wins, their rank being determined by the table of values already 
given. In the example just given suppose that A, on being called 
by D, had shown three fours, and that D had three deuces. A 
would take the entire pool, including all the antes, and the four 
blues and one red staked by B after the draw. It might be that B 
would now discover that he had laid down the best hand, having 
held three sixes. This discovery would be of no benefit to him, 
for he abandoned his hand when he declined to meet the raises of 
A and D. 

If the hands are exactly a tie, the pool must be divided among 
those who are in at the call. For instance : Two players show 
aces up, and each finds his opponent's second pair to be eights. 
The odd card must decide the pool ; and if that card is also a tie 
the pool must be divided. 

If no bet is made after the draw, each player in turn throwing 
down his cards, the antes are won by the last player who holds his 
hand. This is usually the age, because he has the last say. I! 
the age has not made good his ante, it will be the dealer, and so 
on to the right. There is no necessity for the fortunate player to 
show his hand ; the mere fact that he is the only one holding any 
cards is prima facie evidence that his hand is the best. On the same 
principle, the player who has made a bet or raise which no other 
player will see, wins the pool without showing his hand, as he must 
be the only one with cards in his hand ; for when a player refuses to 
see a bet he must abandon his hand, and with it all pretensions to 
the pool. If he wishes to call, but has not money enough, he 
must borrow it. He cannot demand a show of hands for what 
counters he has, except in table stakes. 

During the betting, players are at liberty to make any remarks 



MAKING JACK POTS. (Poker.) 137 

they see fit, and to tell as many cheerful lies about their hands as 
they please. A player may even miscall his hand when he shows 
it ; the cards speak for themselves, just as the counters do, and 
what a player says does not affect either in the slightest. If a 
player says : " I raise you two blues," the statement amounts to 
nothing until the blues have been placed in the pool, and the 
owner's hand removed from them. There is no penalty if a player, 
during the betting, tells his adversaries exactly what he holds ; nor 
is he likely to lose anything by it, for no one will believe him. 

JACK POTS. The addition of jack pots has probably done 
more to injure Poker than the trump signal has injured Whist. In 
the early days, when poker parties were small, four players being a 
common number, it was frequently the case that no one had a pair 
strong enough to draw to, and such a deal was regarded as simply 
a waste of time. To remedy this, it was proposed that whenever 
no player came in, each should be obliged to ante an equal amount 
for the next deal, and just to demonstrate that there were some 
good hands left in the pack no one was allowed to draw cards un- 
til some one had Jacks or better to draw to. 

The result of this practice was to make jack pots larger than the 
other pools, because every one was compelled to ante, and this 
seems to have prompted those who were always wanting to in- 
crease the stakes to devise excuses for increasing the number of 
jack pots. This has been carried so far that the whole system has 
become a nuisance, and has destroyed one of the finest points in 
the game of Poker, — the liberty of personal iudgment as to every 
counter put into the pool, except the blind. The following ex- 
cuses for making jack pots are now in common use : 

After a Misdeal some parties make it a jack ; but the prac- 
tice should be condemned, because it puts it in the power of any 
individual player to make it a jack when he deals. 

The Buck is some article, such as a penknife, which is placed 
in the pool at the beginning of the game, and is taken down with 
the rest of the pool by whichever player wins it. When it comes 
to his deal, it is a jack pot, and the buck is placed in the pool with 
the dealer's ante, to be won, taken down, and make another jack 
in the same way. 

The usual custom is to fix the amount of the ante in jack pots, 
a red, or five whites, being the common stake. In some places it 
is at the option of the holder of the buck to make the ante any 
amount he pleases within the betting limit. Whichever system is 
adopted, every player at the table must deposit a like amount in 
the pool. Players are sometimes permitted to pass a jack ; 
that is, not to ante nor to take any part in the game until the jack 
is decided. If this is to be allowed, it should be so understood at 
the beginning of the game. 



138 (Poker.) MAKING JACK POTS. 

The Sigh Sand jack pot is played whenever a hand of an 
agreed value, such as a flush or a full, is shown to the board ; that 
is, called. In some places four of a kind calls for a round of 
jacks, every player in turn making it a jack on his deal. 

Only Two In, It is a common custom in large parties, say six 
or seven players, to make it a jack when no one but the dealer 
will ante. Instead of allowing the blind to make his ante good, 
and draw cards against the dealer, each player contributes two 
white counters, the age adding one to his blind, and the cards are 
redealt for a jack pot. Another variety of this custom is when 
the blind is opposed by only one ante, to allow the age to make 
this player take down his two counters, and to pay two counters 
for him, to make it a jack. For instance : Five play, and A has 
the age. B and C pass, and D antes two counters. The dealer, 
E, says : " I pass for a jack." A then puts up three counters, one 
of which is added to his blind, the other two paying D's ante in 
the ensuing jack. D takes down his two counters, and the cards 
are redealt. This cannot be done if more than one player has 
anted, nor if the ante has been raised or the blind straddled. In 
the example just given, had D raised the ante to five counters 
and E passed, the age would have had to put up four more white 
counters and draw cards, or allow D to win his blind. 

Progressive Jacks. In some localities it is the custom to 
make the pair necessary to open a jack pot progress in value; 
Jacks or better to open the first round ; Queens the next ; then 
Kings ; then Aces ; and then back to' Kings, Queens, and Jacks 
again. This is very confusing, and is not popular. 

Fattening Jacks. When the original ante is two counters 
only, and no one holds Jacks or better on the first deal, each 
player must contribute another white counter to " fatten," and the 
cards are dealt again. This continues until the pot is opened ; 
that is, until some player holds a hand as good or better than a 
pair of Jacks. The fattening process is followed when the dealer 
can make the original ante what he pleases ; but if the ante for 
jacks is a fixed sum, such as a red counter, it is not usual to fat- 
ten the pot at all. This saves all disputes as to who is shy, 
one of the greatest nuisances in Poker. 

Opening Jacks. As there is no age or straddle in any form 
of jack pot, the player to the left of the dealer has the first say, 
and must examine his hand to see if he has Jacks or better ; that 
is to say, either an actual pair of Jacks, or some hand that would 
beat a pair of Jacks if called upon to do so, such as two pairs, a 
straight, or triplets. In some localities it is allowed to open jacks 
with a bobtail ; that is, four cards of a flush or straight. If the 
player on the dealer's left has not openers, or does not care to 
open the oot if he has, he says : " I pass ; " but he does not aban- 



OPENING JACKS. (Poker.) 139 

don his hand. The next player on his left must then declare. In 
some places players are allowed to throw down their cards when 
they pass ; but in first-class games a penalty of five white coun- 
ters must be paid into the pool by any player abandoning his hand 
before the second round of declarations, as it gives an undue 
advantage to players with medium hands to know that they have 
only a limited number of possible opponents. For instance : If 
six play, and the first three not only pass, but throw down and 
abandon their cards, a player with a pair of Jacks will know that 

.he has only two possible adversaries to draw against him, which 
will so increase his chances that it may materially alter his betting. 
If no one acknowledges to holding Jacks or better, the pot is 
fattened, and the cards are re-shuffied and dealt. The best prac- 
tice is for the same dealer to deal again until some one gets Jacks 
or better. This is called dealing off the jack. If any player 
has forfeited his right in one deal, such as by having a foul hand, 
that does not prevent him coming into the pot again on the next 
deal with rights equal to the other players. 

If any player holds Jacks or better, he can open the pot, or 
" the jack," for any amount he pleases within the betting limit. 
The expression " open " is used because after one player has 
declared that he holds Jacks or better, all restrictions are removed, 
and the pool is then open to any player to come in and play for it, 
regardless of what he may hold. Each player in turn, beginning 
on the left of the opener, must declare whether or not he will 
stay. If he stays, he must put up an amount equal to that bet 
by the opener, and has the privilege of raising him if he sees fit. 
If he passes, he throws his cards face downward on the table in 
front of the player whose turn it will be to deal next. Should the 
opener be raised, and not care to see that raise, he must show his 
hand to the table before abandoning it, in order to demonstrate 
that he had openers. Some players show only the cards neces- 
sary to open, but the strict rules require the whole hand to be 
shown before the draw. When once the jack is opened, the bet- 
ting before the draw proceeds exactly as in the ordinary pool. 
Any player on the right of the opener, who passed on the first 
round, may come in after the pot is opened. For instance : E 
deals. A and B pass, but hold their hands. C opens, and D 
throws down his hand. E sees the opener's bet, and it then be- 
comes the turn of A and B, who have passed once, to say whether 
or not they will play, now that the pot is opened. 
When all those who have declared to stay have deposited an 
equal amount in the pool, they draw cards to improve their hands, 
just as in the ordinary pool, the player on the dealer's left being 
helped first. All those who draw cards, except the opener, throw 

. their discards into the centre of the table as usual ; but the opener 
is obliged always to place his discard under the chips in the pool. 



140 (Poker.) SPLITTING OPENERS. 

This is in order that he may be able to show what he held origi- 
nally, in case he should conclude to split his openers in order 
to try for a better hand. For instance : He has opened with a 
pair of Jacks, but has four of one suit in his hand. Four other 
players have stayed, perhaps the bet has been raised, and he knows 
that his Jacks will probably be worthless, even if he gets a third. 
So he breaks the pair, and draws for a flush. As the opener always 
places his discard under the chips in the pool, it is not necessary 
for him to betray his game by telling the whole table that he is 
drawing to a bobtail. 

False Openers. Should a player open a jack without the 
hand to justify it, and discover his error before he draws, the best 
usage demands that his hand is foul, and that he forfeits to the 
pool whatever amount he may have opened for, and any raises 
that he may have stood. There are then three ways to play : 
First. Those who have come in under the impression that the 
pot had been legitimately opened but who have not openers them- 
selves, can withdraw their money, and allow any one to open it 
who has openers. This is very unfair to those on the left of the 
false opener who have abandoned their hands. Second. Those 
who have come into the pot -after the false opening are allowed to 
stay in, and play for it, no matter what their hands are. Third, 
On discovery of the false opening, each player is allowed to take 
down whatever amount he may have paid into the pool, including 
his original ante and all fatteners, and the false opener must then 
make the entire amount good. The cards are then dealt afresh. 
This is a very harsh punishment for a very trifling and common 
error. 

The second method is the most popular, and probably the fairest, 
and is now the universal rule. 

If the false opener does not discover his mistake until he has 
drawn cards, his action is at least suspicious, and he should be 
compelled to put up the total amount in the pool, as in case three. 
In some localities such a player is barred from playing the next 
two jacks, but compelled to ante his share in each. 

Betting Jacks. When a jack pot has been properly opened, 
and all have declared whether or not they will stay, and have 
drawn cards, the players proceed to bet on their hands. As there 
is no age in jack pots, the rule is for the opener to make the first 
bet ; or, if he has been raised out before the draw, the player next 
on his left who still holds cards. The opener may decline to bet 
if he pleases ; but if he does so, he must show his openers,, and* 
then abandon his hand. If no bet is made, the last player hold- 
ing cards takes the pool without showing his hand. If a bet fe 
made, each player in turn on the left must abdicate, better, or call, 
just as in the ordinary pool. At the conclusion of the betting, if 
there is a call, the best poker hand wins, of course. If there is no 



TABLE STAKES. (Poker.) 141 

call, the player making the last bet or raise takes the pool without 
showing his hand, unless he is the opener, when the whole hand 
need not be shown, as it is no one's business what the opener got 
in the draw, no one having paid to see it. All he need show is 
openers. But should the opener be one of those in the final call, 
he must show his whole hand. Should it then be discovered that 
he has not openers, the false opener is compelled to ante for all 
the players at the table for another Jack. This is usually called 
giving them a " free ride." 

The JLitty is now an almost universal adjunct to the pool. In 
clubs, it pays for the cards, and for an occasional round of re- 
freshments ; in small poker parties it defrays the expense of the 
weekly supper. When the amount is excessive, or accumulates 
too rapidly, it is often used to give the players a " free ride " by 
paying all their antes in a " kitty jack pot.'' 

The kitty is usually kept by the banker, who takes a white 
counter out of every pool in which triplets or better are shown to 
the board, and a red counter out of every jack pot. These 
counters must be kept apart from the other chips, and must be 
accounted for at the end of the game by paying the kitty so much 
in cash, just as if it was one of the players. 

Gambling houses and poker rooms are supposed to derive their 
entire revenue from this source, and those of the lowest class in- 
vent endless excuses for taking out for the kitty. In many houses 
there is a sliding scale for various hands ; one counter being taken 
for two pairs ; two counters for triplets ; three for straights or 
flushes ; and a red for fours, jack pots, and misdeals. It is not 
uncommon for the proprietors of such games to find thirty or forty 
dollars in the kitty after a night's play with five-cent chips. 

TABLE STAKES. This is one of several variations in ar- 
ranging the stakes and the betting limit. In some localities it is 
the custom to allow each player to purchase as many counters as 
he pleases ; in others it is the rule to compel each to buy an equal 
number at the start, usually two hundred times the amount of the 
blind. In table stakes the betting limit is always the amount that 
the player has in front of him ; but no player is allowed either 
...to increase or diminish that amount while he has any cards in 
front of him. Before the cards are dealt for any pool he may an- 
nounce that he wishes to buy counters, or that he has some to sell 
to any other player wishing to purchase ; but for either transac- 
tion the consent of all the other players must be obtained. No 
player is allowed under any circumstances to borrow from another, 
nor to be " shy " in any pot ; that is, to say, " I owe so many." If 
he has any counters in front of him, his betting is limited to what 
he has ; if he has none, he is out of the game, for that hand at 
least. As a player cannot increase the amount he has in front of 
him during the play of a hand, it is best to keep on the table at all 
times as much as one is likely to want to bet on any one hand. 



142 (Poker,) TABLE STAKES. 

It is the usual custom, and an excellent one, to fix upon a defi- 
nite hour for closing a game of table stakes, and to allow no player 
to retire from the game before that hour unless he is deceive*, 
(has lost all his capital). Should he insist on retiring, whatever 
counters he has must be divided among the other players, and if 
there are any odd ones after the division, they must be put into the 
current pool. 

In table stakes, any player may call a sight for what money or 
counters he has in front of him, even should another player have 
bet a much larger amount. For instance : A has bet three dollars, 
and B has only two dollars in front of him, but wishes to call A. 
B calls for a sight by putting his two dollars in the pool, and A 
must then withdraw his third dollar from the pool, but leave it on 
the table to be called or raised by any other player. Should C 
wish to call A, or even to raise him, A and C may continue the 
betting independently of B's part of the pool. Should C have even 
less money than B, say one dollar, he may still further reduce the 
original pool, leaving the two dollars aside for settlement between 
A and B, and A's third dollar still aside from that again for the 
decision of any other player. 

Let us suppose that A and C continue the betting until one calls. 
When the hands are shown, if either A's or C's is better than B's, 
B loses his interest ; but if B's hand is better than either A's hand 
or C's hand, he takes the part of the pool for which he called a 
sight, while A and C decide the remainder between them. For 
instance : A calls C, and C shows three tens. Neither A nor B 
can beat it, and C takes everything. But if B had three Jacks, 
and A only three fives, B would take the part of the pool for which 
he called a sight, and C would take the remainder. 

Should C have raised and bluffed A out, or have bet so much 
that A finally refused to call, A would have no interest in either 
pool, and C would take all the money outside the pool for which 
B called a sight. Should it then transpire, on the show of hands 
between B and C, that A had laid down a better hand than either 
of them, that would not entitle A to claim the sight pool from B, 
because in laying down his hand he has practically acknowledged 
that C's hand is better, and has retired from the game. If B's 
hand is better than C's, B takes the sight pool. 

FREEZE OUT. This might be called a variety of table 
stakes. At the start, each player is supplied with an equal num- • 
ber of counters ; but no one is allowed to replenish his stock, or to 
withdraw or loan any part of it. As soon as any player has lost 
his capital he is decave, or frozen out, and must permanently 
retire from the game. The other players continue until only one 
remains, who must of course win everything on the table. This is 
not a popular form of Poker, because it is sometimes a long time 
before a player who is frozen out can get into a game again. 



FLAT POKER. (Poker,) 143 

SHO W-DO WK POKEB. This is a variety of draw poker, 
in which each player takes the five cards dealt to him and turns 
them face up so that all the other players can see them. Each 
player discards and draws in turn, eldest hand first. As soon as a 
hand is beaten it is thrown into the deadwood, all the cards drawn 
being dealt face up. 

FLAT POKEB. In this variety of the game, before the 
cards are dealt, the age puts up, for a blind, any amount he pleases 
within the limit. Those who are willing to bet a similar amount 
on the possibilities of their hands put up a similar amount. Those 
who decline are not given any cards. There are no straddles, 
raises, or antes. Immediately after the deal each player who is in 
the pool draws cards, the age first. There are then two ways to 
play : The hands are shown and the best wins ; or, beginning with 
the age, each player may say if he will back his hand against the 
field ; z. e., all the others in the pool. If he will, he must put up as 
much as their combined stakes. He cannot be raised ; but if any 
one player or combination of players call him, and one of them 
can beat his hand, the field divide the pool. For instance : Age 
makes it a blue, and three others stay with him. After the draw 
C puts up three blues against the field. D and A call it, and all 
show hands. If any of the three, A, B or D can beat C they 
divide the pool, B getting his third, although he did not contribute 
to the call. This game is a pure gamble ; except that a bold 
player may occasionally bluff the field off. 

METHODS OF CHEATING. Poker and its congeners 
have received more attention from the greeks than any other 
family of card games. In fact it is generally believed that the 
term greek, as applied to a card sharper, had its origin in the 
Adam of the poker family, which was a gambling game intro- 
duced by the Greeks in Italy. 

So numerous and so varied are the methods of cheating at 
Poker that it is an axiom among gamblers that if a pigeon will not 
stand one thing he will another. The best informed make it a 
rule never to play Poker with strangers, because they realize that it 
is impossible for any but a professional gambler to know half the 
tricks employed by the poker sharp. It is a notorious fact that 
even the shrewdest gamblers are continually being taken in by 
others more expert than themselves. What chance then has the 
honest card player ? 

There are black sheep in all flocks, and it may be well to give a 
few hints to those who are in the habit of playing in mixed com- 
panies. 

Never play with a man who looks attentively at the faces of the 
cards as he gathers them for his deal ; or who stands the pack on 
edge, with the faces of the cards towards him, and evens up the 
bunch by picking out certain cards, apparently because they are 



144 (Poker.) METHODS OF CHEATING. 

sticking up. Any pack can be straightened by pushing the cards 
down with the hand. The man who lifts them up is more than 
probably a cheat. 

Never play with a man who looks intently at the pack and 
shuffles the cards slowly. If he is not locating the cards for the 
ensuing deal he is wasting time, and should be hurried a little. 

Never play with a person who leaves the cut portion of the pack 
on the table, and deals off the other part. In small parties this is 
a very common way of working what is known as the top stoclc. 
If such a dealer is carefully watched it will usually be found that 
he seizes the first opportunity to place the part cut off on the top 
of the part dealt from. The top stock is then ready for the draw, 
and the judicious player should at once cash his chips and retire 
from the game. 

Never play with a man who continually holds his cards very close 
to his body, or who completely conceals his hand before the draw, 
or who takes great care to put his discard among previous discards, 
so that the exact number of cards put out cannot be counted. He 
is probably working a vest or sleeve hold-out. Some clumsy or 
audacious sharpers will go so far as to hold out cards in their lap, or 
stick them in a " bug " under the table. One of the most successful 
poker sharps ever known, " Eat-um-up Jake " Blackburn, who 
had a hand like a ham. could hold out five cards in his palm while 
he carried on all the operations of shuffling, dealing, and playing 
his hand. Such men require great dexterity and nerve to get rid 
of their "deadwood," or surplus cards, without detection. ILold*- 
ing out is regarded by the professional as a most dangerous ex- 
periment, but it is very common. 

Never play with a man who keeps his eyes rivetted on the cards 
as he deals, and who deals comparatively slowly. He is probably 
using marked cards, or has marked the important ones himself dur- 
ing tke play. Poker sharps who mark cards by scratching them 
with a sharp point concealed in a ring are obliged to hold the cards 
at a certain angle to the light in order to see the scratches. Those 
who dig points in the cards with the thumb nail depend on touch 
instead of sight. If you find such points on the cards, either dig 
other points on other cards, or retire from the game. 

Against the hold-out or marked cards there is no protection, be- 
cause the dealer does not care how much the cards in the pack are 
shuffled or cut ; but every method of running up hands, or stock- 
ing cards, can be made ineffective if the pone will not only cut the 
cards, but carefully re-unite the packets. If the two parts are 
straightened after the cut, it will be impossible for the dealer to 
shift the cut, and bring the cards back to their original position. 
The dealer will sometimes bend the top or bottom card so as to 
form a bridge, which will enable him to find the place where the 
cards were cut. This can only be overcome by shuffling the carda 



GOOD PLAY. (Poker.) 145 

' instead of cutting them, which every player has the right to do. If 
you insist on shuffling, the greek will do the same in his turn, and 
will run up hands to be dealt to himself. It is perfectly useless 
to endeavour to protect yourself against a poker sharp ; the only 
remedy is to leave the game. 

Many persons have a strong prejudice against playing with a 
man who shuffles his chips. The mere fact of his being an expert 
at chip shuffling has nothing to do with the game of poker, the 
accomplishment usually being the result of long experience at the 
faro table. The reason for the prejudice is that a chip shuffler is 
usually cold blooded, courageous, and seldom a loser at any game 
that requires nerve. 

SUGGESTIONS FOM GOOD TDAY. Volumes might 
be written for the guidance of the poker player without improving 
his game a particle, unless he possesses at least one of four quali- 
fications : Control over his features and actions ; judgment of 
human nature ; courage ; and patience. The man whose face or 
manner betrays the nature of his hand, or the effect of an oppo- 
nent's bet or raise, will find everyone to beat his weak hands, and 
no one to call his strong ones. Unless he is a fair judge of human 
nature he will never be able to estimate the strength or peculiari- 
ties of the players to whom he is opposed, and will fail to dis-, 
tinguish a bluff from an ambuscade. Without courage he cannot 
reap the full benefit of his good hands ; and without patience he 
cannot save his money in the time of adversity. 

Of one thing every player may rest assured, and that is that 
Poker cannot be played by mathematical formulas. Beyond the 
most elementary calculations of the chances in favour of certain 
events the theory of probabilities is of no assistance. It is not 
necessary to call in a mathematician to prove that a player who 
habitually discards a pair of aces to draw to three cards of a suit 
will lose by the operation in the long run. Nor will any amount 
of calculation convince some players that they are wasting their 
money to stay in a jack pot in order to draw to a pair of tens, 
although such is the fact. 

The various positions occupied by the player at the poker table 
may be briefly examined, and some general suggestions offered 
for his guidance in each of them. In the first place he should 
look out for his counters. It is always best for each player to place 
the amount of his ante or his bet immediately in front of him, so 
that there need be no dispute as to who is up, or who is shy. 
Above all it should be insisted that any player who has once put 
counters in the pool, and taken his hand from them, should not 
again take them down. 

The Age is the most valuable position at the table, but it is 
seldom fully taken advantage of. The age should never look at 



146 (Poker.) GOOD PLAY. 

his hand until it is his turn to make good his blind. He may pick 
up his cards, but he should use his eyes in following the manner 
and facial expression of the other players as they sort their cards. 
One of the greatest errors made by the age is in thinking that he 
must save his blind. The player who draws to nothing because 
he can do so cheaply, will usually have nothing to draw at the end 
of the game. The age can usually afford to draw to four-card 
flushes, and to straights open at both ends, but should not do so 
when there are less than three who have paid to draw cards, or 
when the ante has been raised. 

If the age holds Kings or better before the draw, he should in- 
variably raise the ante unless there are five players in the pool be- 
sides himself, or unless some other player has already raised. If 
he holds two pairs, he should do all his betting before the draw. 
If any other player has raised, or his own raise is re-raised, the age 
must use his judgment of the player and the circumstances. It is 
useless for the age to disguise his hand by such manoeuvres as 
holding up an odd card to a pair, unless he raises the blind at the 
same time. If he draws one or two cards only, and has not raised 
the blind, every one will credit him for a small pair and an ace, or 
for a bobtail, and will inevitably call any bluff he may make. The 
age is the poorest position at the table for a bluff, but it is decid- 
edly the best in which to win large pots with moderate hands. 

The Dealer has the next best position to the age, and in large 
parties there is very little difference in the way in which the two 
positions should be played. 

The first bettor has the worst position at the table and he 
should seldom come in on less than Queens. He should seldom 
raise the ante, even with two pairs, as he will only drive others 
out. In this position very little can be made out of good hands, 
because every one expects to find them there ; but it offers many 
excellent opportunities for successful bluffing. A player in this 
position should never straddle. Many players endeavour to force 
their luck in this way, but it is a losing game, and the best players 
seldom or never straddle. Having to make the first bet after the 
draw, it is usualfor the player in this position, if he has an average 
hand, to chip along, by simply betting a single counter, and 
waiting for developments. With a strong hand, it is best to bet 
its full value at once, on the chance that the bet may be taken for 
a bluff, and called. 

Other Positions* As the positions go round the table from 
the first bettor to the age, they become more desirable, and little 
need be said of them beyond the consideration of the average 
strength necessary for a player to go in on. 

GOING IN. There is a great difference of opinion as to the 
minimum value of a hand which should justify a player in draw* 



GOOD PLAY. (Poker.) 147 

ing cards if he can do so for the usual ante. In close games 
many players make it a rule not to go in on less than tens, while 
in more liberal circles the players will draw to any pair. In 
determining which course to follow, the individual must be guided 
by his observation and judgment. Suppose five play, and A 
observes that B and C constantly draw to small pairs, while D 
and E never come in on less than tens. If A has the age, B, D, 
and E having anted, A may be sure that there are at least two 
good hands against him, and will guide himself accordingly. But 
if B and C are the only players in, A may safely draw to a small 
pair. It can be mathematically demonstrated that what is called 
an average go-in Iiand should be at least a pair of tens; but- 
a player who waits for tens in a liberal game, in which others are 
drawing to ace high, will ante himself away if there are many jack 
pots, and will get no calls when he gets a hand. 

BETTING. Good players are guided by the general charac- 
ter of the game in which they take part. Some parties play a 
very liberal game, and the players bet high on medium hands, and 
give every one a good fight. It is best to have liberal or lucky 
players on your right ; because if they sit behind you, they wiM 
continually raise you, and you will be forced either to overbid 
your hand on the same liberal scale that they adopt, or lose what 
you have already put up. If a liberal player sits on your right 
you will often be able to make large winnings on moderate hands. 
In a close game, when the players bet in a niggardly manner, the 
liberal player is at a great disadvantage ; for he can win little or 
nothing on his good hands, but will lose large amounts when he 
runs up the betting on a good hand which is opposed to one that 
is better. When a liberal player finds a close player following 
him freely, he may be sure there is a very strong hand against 
him. 

VARIETY. Above all things a player should avoid regular- 
ity in his play, because observant adversaries will soon learn his 
methods. The best players usually play two pairs pat, without 
drawing, about half the time. This gives them the reputation of 
betting on pat hands which are not genuine, and when they get 
one that is real, they will often succeed in getting a good bet, or 
even a raise, from those holding triplets or two large pairs, who 
have noticed them play two pairs pat. In the same way it is 
advisable to hold up an odd card occasionally, without raising the 
ante ; so that when you do hold triplets, and draw two cards, you 
will not frighten every one at the table. The chances of improving 
a pair by drawing three cards, are one in three ; and by drawing 
two cards only, one in four. The difference is worth the moral 
effect of the variation irt the play. 

PROBABILITIES. The endless poker statistics that 
have been published are of little or no value to the practical player, 



148 (Poker.) PROBABILITIES. 

and there are only a few figures that are worth remembering, It 
is a general law in all games of chance that you should never do a 
thing which you would not be willing to, repeat under the same 
circumstances a hundred times. The best example of the appli- 
cation of this law is in drawing to bobtails. If you have a four- 
card flush to draw to, the odds against getting it are about four to 
one ; and unless you can obtain the privilege of drawing to it by 
paying not more than one-fifth of the amount in the pool, you will 
lose by it in the long run. The best players never draw to four- 
card flushes except when they have the age, and the ante has not 
been raised. 

There are some players who pretend to be so guided by proba- 
bilities that they never go into a pool unless the chances in favour 
of their having a good hand after the draw are at least equal to 
the odds they have to bet by going into the pool. This is all 
nonsense; for no player knows when he goes into a "pool how 
much it will cost him to get out, and the value of his individual 
hand is an unknown quantity at the best, because it cannot be 
compared to the others. One thing only is certain, and that is 
that in the long run the player who goes in with the strongest 
hand will still have the strongest hand after the draw. This is an 
important thing to remember in jack pots, in which the value of 
at least one hand is known. If you draw to a pair smaller than 
Jacks, you do so with the full knowledge that the pair itself is not 
strong enough to win. Now what are the odds against your win- 
ning the pool ? Suppose you hold tens, and draw three cards. Your 
chance of improving your hand is a little better than one in five. 
The opener of the jack pot has exactly the same chance, and if both 
of you draw cards a hundred times under those circumstances, he 
will beat you in the long run, to say nothing of the other players 
who may come in and beat both of you. It is therefore evident 
that in backing tens against openers, it is four to one against your 
beating the openers to begin with, and if you do beat them the 
odds are still against your winning the pot. If there were five 
players, and the jack pots were all equal in amount, you would 
have to win one pot out of five to make your investment pay. 
Can you make this average" when your original pair will not beat 
openers ? 

There are three principles with regard to the draw that should 
never be lost sight of : 

(1) An average go-in hand is a hand which will win its propor- 
tion of the pools, according to the number playing, taking all 
improvements and opposition into account. This can be demon- 
strated to be a pair of tens. 

(2) The draw is much more valuable to a weak hand than to a 
strong one, and weak hands will improve in much greater pro- 
portion than strong ones will. For instance : The chances for a 



PR OB ABILITIES. 



(Poker.) 149 



player to improve by drawing to a pair of Queens are one in three 
and a half. He may make two pairs, or triplets, or a full hand, or 
four of a kind. The chances of improvement for a player drawing 
to two pairs, say Eights up, are only one in thirteen. This con- 
sideration leads players to adopt two lines of play : To bet all they 
intend to on two pairs before the draw, in order to prevent weaker 
hands drawing cards and improving; or, to discard the smaller 
pair in order to increase their chances of improvement. 

(3) The smaller the number of players, the greater the value of 
the hands ; and the larger the number of players, the greater the 
chance that any given hand will be beaten. When only two play, 
you can safely bet the limit on a pair of Eights ; but in a party of 
eight players they are hardly worth drawing to. For this reason 
average hands should force the weaker out, and reduce the num- 
ber of players before the draw. 

For the benefit of those interested in such matters the prob- 
able improvement by the draw may be briefly given. 

It is 2y 2 to I against improving a pair by drawing three 
cards ; the chances against making triplets or two pairs being 8 to 
i ; against a full hand, 6i to i ; and against four of a kind, 364 to 1. 
It is 4 to 1 against improving a pair by drawing two cards ; the 
chances against triplets being 12 to 1, and 8 to 1 against two pairs. 

It is 12 to- 1 against making a full hand by drawing to two 
pairs. 

It is 8 to 1 against improving triplets by drawing two cards; 
14*4 to 1 against a full hand, and 23 to 1 against four of a kind. 
It is 12 to 1 against improving if one card is drawn ; 16 to 1 against 
the full, and 46 to 1 against four of a kind. 

It is 1 1 to 1 against making a straight out of a sequence of four 
cards which is open in the middle, or at one end only. It is 5 to I 
against making a straight out of a sequence of four which is open 
at both ends. 






* ♦ ♦ ♦ 
* 

♦ ♦ ♦ * 



In-between Straight. 



9? 9? 
9? 9? 




4. A 
* * 
*** 




V 



o < 
♦ 
o 



Open-end Straight. 



It is 4}4 to 1 against filling a four-card flush. It is 23 to I 
against filling a three-card flush. It is 95 to 1 against filling a two- 
card flush. 

It is 3 to 1 against improving a* four-card straight flush which is 
open at both ends. The chances against getting the straight or 
the flush have been given ; the odds against getting the straight 
flush are 24 to 1. The chance for getting a pair exists ; but the 
pair would probably be worthless. 



150 (Poker.) HOW TO WIN. 

It is 4 to i against improving a four-card straight flush open in 
the middle, or at one end only ; the odds against getting the 
straight flush being 46 to 1. 

There are several minor or speculative draws which may be of 
interest. Drawing to an ace and a King, it is 3 to 1 against mak- 
ing a pair of either. It is 4 to 1 against making a pair of aces by 
drawing four cards to an ace ; and 12 to 1 against making aces 
up, or better. It is 24 to 1 against making a straight by drawing to 
three cards of it, open at both ends. It is 12 to 1 against mak- 
ing either a straight or a flush by drawing to three cards of a 
straight flush, open at both ends. 

HOW TO WIN AT POKEB. There have been many 
alleged infallible receipts for winning at Poker. Proctor thought 
that refusing to go in on less than triplets would prove a certainty ; 
but in the same paragraph he acknowledges that the adversaries 
would soon learn the peculiarity, and avoid betting against the 
player. Triplets before the draw occur about onCe in every 45 
hands. If five were playing, a person following Proctor's advice , 
would have to blind 9 times, and ante in at least 12 jack pots in 
every 45 hands, to say nothing of fattening. This means an out- 
lay of at least 75 counters. When the triplets come, will he get 
back 75 counters on them ? He will probably win the blind, and 
one or two antes ; but the moment he makes his own ante good, 
every player who cannot beat triplets, knowing his system, will 
lay down his hand. 

An extensive observation of the methods of the best players 
has led the author to the conclusion that the great secret of suc- 
cess in Poker, apart from natural aptitude for the game, and being 
a good actor, is to avoid caUing, If you think you have the 
best hand, raise. If you think you have not the best, lay it down. 
Although you may sometimes lay down a better hand than the 
one that takes the pool, the system will prove of immense advan- 
tage to you in two ways : In the first place, you will find it a great 
educator of the judgment ; and in the second place, it will take 
almost any opponent's nerve. Once an adversary has learned 
your method, it is not a question of his betting a red chip on his 
hand ; but of his willingness to stand a raise of two blues, which 
he will regard as inevitable if you come in against him at all. The 
fear of this raise will prompt many a player to lay down a moder- 
ately good hand without a bet ; so that you have all the advantage 
of having made a strong bluff without having put up a chip. The 
system will also drive all but the most courageous to calling your 
hand on every occasion, being afraid of a further and inevitable 
raise ; and it is an old saying that a good caller is a sure loser. 

The theory of calling is to get an opportunity to compare your 
hand with your adversary's. Now, if you think that after the 
Comparison yours will prove the better hand, why not increase the 



BLUFFING. (Pokef.) 151 

value of the pool ? H\ on the contrary, you fear that his hand 
will beat yours, why throw good money after bad? If you don't 
think at all about it, and have no means of forming an opinion as 
to the respective merits of your hands, you are not a poker player, 
and have no business in the game. 

BL UFFING, There is nothing connected with Poker on 
which persons have such confused ideas as on the subject of bluff- 
ing. The popular impression seems to be that a stiff upper lip, 
and a cheerful expression of countenance, accompanied by a bet 
of five dollars, will make most people lay down three aces ; and 
that this result will be brought about by the five-dollar bet, with- 
out any regard to the player's position at the table, the number of 
cards he drew, his manner of seeing or raising the ante, or the 
play of his adversaries before the draw. The truth of the matter 
is that for a bluff to be either sound in principle or successful in 
practice, the player must carefully select his opportunity. The 
bluff must be planned from the start, and consistently played from 
the ante to the end. To use a common expression: " The play 
must be right for it, or the bluff will be wrong." 

There are many cases in which a bluff of fifty cents would be 
much stronger than one of five dollars ; the difference depending 
on the player's position at the table, his treatment of the ante, and 
the number of cards he had drawn. As an example of the play 
being right for a blu£f, take the following case : Five play in a 
jack pot. A and B have passed when C opens it for the limit. D 
and E pass out, but A and B both stay, and each draws one card. 
C takes two cards, and as it is his first bet he puts up the limit on 
his three aces. A drops out, but B raises C the limit in return. 
Now, if C is a goci player he will lay down his three aces, even if 
he faintly suspects B is bluffing, because B's play is sound in any 
case. He either could not, or pretended he could not open the 
jack ; but he could afford to pay the limit to draw one card against 
openers, and he could afford to raise the limit against an opener's 
evidently honest two-card draw. As a matter of fact the whole 
play was a bluff ; for B not only had nothing, but had nothing to 
draw to originally. 

Another variety of the bluff, which is the author's own invention, 
will often prove successful with strangers, but it can seldom be 
repeated in the same company. Suppose six play in a jack pot. 
A passes, and B opens it by quietly putting up his counters. C 
and D pass, and E, pretending not to know that B has opened it, 
announces that he will open it for the limit, although he has not a 
pair in his hand. He is of course immediately informed that it 
has been opened, upon which he unhesitatingly raises it for the 
limit. Whatever the others do, E stands pat, and looks cheerful. 
The author has never known this bluff to be called. 



152 (Poker.) POKER LAWS. 

Holding a strong hand, a player may often coax another to 
raise him, by offering to divide the pool. 

The successful bluffer should never show his hand. Even if he 
starts the game by bluffing for advertising purposes, hoping to 
get called on good hands later, he should not show anything or 
tell anything that the others do not pay to see or know. Bluffing 
is usually more successful when a player is in a lucky vein than 
when he has been unfortunate. 



POKER LAWS. 

1. Formation of Table. A poker table is complete with 
seven players. If eight play the dealer must take no cards, or a 
sixty-card pack must be used. If there are more than seven can- 
didates for play, two tables must be formed unless the majority 
decide against it. 

2. Cutting. The players who shall form the table, and their 
positions at the beginning of the game may be decided by drawing 
from an outspread pack, or by throwing round a card to each can- 
didate, face up. If there are eight or more candidates, the tables 
shall divide evenly if the number is even, those cutting the highest 
cards playing together. If the number is odd, the smaller table 
shall be formed by those cutting the highest cards. In cutting, 
the ace is low. Any player exposing more than one card must 
cut again. 

3. The table formed, the players draw from the outspread pack 
for positions. The lowest cut has the first choice, and deals the 
first hand. The player cutting the next lowest has the next choice, 
and so on until all are seated. 

4=. Ties. If players cut cards of equal value they must cut 
again ; but the new cut decides nothing but the tie. 

5. Stakes. Any player may be the banker, and keep the kitty, 
if any. In Draw, Straight, or Stud Poker, each player may pur- 
chase as many counters as he pleases. In Freeze-out, Table 
Stakes, Whiskey Poker, and Progressive Poker, each player must 
begin with an equal amount. 

6. Betting Limits. Before play begins limits must be 
agreed upon for the amount of the blind, the straddle, the ante in 
jack pots, and for betting or raising. 

7. Shuffling. Before the first deal the pack must be counted 
to see that it contains the proper number of cards. Should the 
first dealer neglect this he forfeits five counters to the pool. Be- 
fore each deal the cards must be shuffled. Any player may shuf- 
fle, the dealer last. 



POKER LAWS, (Poker.) 153 

8. Cutting to the Dealer, The dealer must present the pack 
to the pone, [the player on his right,] to be cut. The pone may 
either cut, or signify that he does not wish to do so, by tapping the 
pack with his knuckles. Should the pone decline to cut, no other 
player can insist on his doing so, nor do it for him. If he cuts, he 
must leave at least four cards in each packet, and the dealer or 
the pone must re-unite the packets by placing the one not removed 
in cutting upon the other. 

9. If in cutting, or in re-uniting the packets, a card is exposed, 
the pack must be re-shuffled and cut. 

10. If the dealer re-shuffles the pack after it has been properly 
cut, he forfeits five counters to the current pool. 

11. Dealing Before the Draw. After the age, [the 
player on the dealer's left,] has put up the amount of the blind, the 
dealer distributes the cards face down, one at a time, in rotation, 
until each player has received five cards. 

12. The deal passes to the left, except in jack pots, when it may 
be agreed that the same dealer shall deal until the pot is opened. 

13. Misdealing. A misdeal does not lose the deal ; the 
same dealer must deal again. It is a misdeal : If the dealer fails 
to present the pack to the pone ; or if any card is found faced in 
the pack ; or if the pack is found imperfect ; or if the dealer gives 
six or more cards to more than one player ; or if he deals more or 
fewer hands than there are players ; or if he omits a player in 
dealing; or if he deals a card incorrectly, and fails to correct the 
error before dealing another. 

14. Irregularities in the Hands. Should the dealer, or 
the wind, turn over any card, the player to whom it is dealt must 
take it ; but the same player cannot be compelled to take two ex- 
posed cards. Should such a combination occur there must be a 
new deal. If the player expose? cards himself, he has no remedy, 

15. Should any player receive more or less than his proper num- 
ber of cards, and discover the error before he looks at any card in 
his hand, or lifts it from the table, he may demand a new deal if 
no bet has been made ; or he may ask the dealer to give him an- 
other card from the pack if he has too few, or to draw a card if he 
has too many. Cards so drawn must not be exposed, but should 
be placed on the top of the pack. If a bet has been made, there 
must be a new deal. Should the player take up his hand, or look 
at any card" in it, he has no remedy. 

16. Should a player take up a hand containing more or less 
than five cards, or look at any card in it, such a hand is foul, and 
he must abandon it, forfeiting any interest he may have in that 
pool. If one player has six cards and his neighbour four, neither 



154 (Poker.) POKER LAWS. 

having lifted or looked at any card, the dealer may be called upon 
to draw a card from the six hand and give it to the four hand. 

17. Straddling, During the deal, or at any time before he 
looks at any card in his hand, the player to the left of the age may 
straddle the blind by putting up double the amount put up by 
the age. Should he straddle, the player on his left may double 
the amount again, provided he has not seen any of his cards ; and 
so on, until the limit of the straddling is reached. This limit must 
not exceed one-fourth of the betting limit. Should any player in 
his turn refuse to straddle, no other player on his left can straddle. 

18. The Ante, After the cards are dealt, each player in turn, 
beginning with the one to the left of the age, or to the left of the 
last straddler, if any, must either abandon his hand or put into the 
pool twice the amount of the blind, or of the last straddle. When 
it comes to the turn of the age, and the straddlers, if any, they 
must either abandon their hands, or make the amount they have 
in the pool equal to twice the amount of the blind, or of the last 
straddle, if any. 

19. liaising the Ante, Each player, when it is his turn 
to come in, may add to the amount of the ante any sum within the 
betting limit. This will compel any player coming in after him to 
equal the total of the ante and the raise, or to abandon his hand ; 
and it will also give such following player the privilege of raising 
again by any further amount within the betting limit. Should any 
player decline to equal the amount put up by any previous player, 
he must abandon his hand, together with all his interest in that 
pool. Any player who has been raised in this manner may raise 
again in his turn ; and not until each player holding cards has anted 
an equal amount will the game proceed. 

20. Winning the Antes, Should any player have put up 
an amount which no other player will equal, he takes whatever 
counters are then in the pool, without showing his hand, and the 
deal passes to the next player on the dealer's left. Should only 
one player come in, and the age decline to make good his ante, the 
player who has come in wins the blind, unless jack pots are 
played. Should any player have straddled the blind, or raised the 
ante, there can be no jack pot. 

21. Making Jacks. If no player will come in, it is a 
Natural Jack, and all the hands must be abandoned, each player 
putting up for the ensuing deal the amount agreed upon. If no 
one has straddled the blind, or raised the ante, and only one player 
has come in, the age may do one of four things : He may forfeit 
his blind ; or he may make the ante good ; or he may raise it ; or he 
may demand that the single player who has come in shall take 
down his ante, the age putting up twice the amount agreed upon 
for jack pots ; once for himself, and once for the player who came 



POKER LAWS. (Poker.) 155 

in. All the other players must then put up for the ensuing deaL 
This is an Only-Two-In Jack. 

22. Drawing Cards. When two or more players have- 
come in for an equal amount, the others having abandoned their 
hands, each of them in turn, beginning with the one on the 
dealer's left, may discard any or all of the cards originally dealt 
him, and draw others in their place. The number discarded and 
drawn, if any, must be distinctly announced by each player, includ- 
ing the dealer ; and the fresh cards must be given face down from 
the top of the pack, without any further shuffling or cutting. Each 
player must receive the entire number he asks for before the next 
player is helped. No player shall receive from the dealer more or 
fewer than he discards ; so that if he is playing with a short hand, 
such as four cards only, he will still have four cards after the 
draw ; and if his hand was originally foul, it will so remain. 

23. Exposed Cards. In dealing for the draw, shoulc any 
card be found faced in the pack, or should any card be exposed by 
the dealer in giving out the cards, or be blown over by the wind 
before the player has touched it, such cards must be placed on the 
table with the discards. The player whose card has been ex- 
posed does not receive another in its place until all the other play- 
ers, including the dealer, have been helped. 

24. Incorrect Draws. Should any player ask for an in- 
correct number of cards, he must take them ; unless he discovers 
the error before the next player has been helped. If too many 
have been asked for, he must discard before seeing them. If too 
few, and he lifts any of them, he holds a foul hand. No player is 
allowed to take back into his hand any card that has once been 
discarded. If he has taken up the cards, or has seen any of them, 
and has too many, his hand is foul, and must be abandoned. If 
the dealer gives himself .more cards than he needs, he must take 
them ; but if less, he can supply the deficiency, provided he has 
hot looked at any of the drawn cards. 

25. Incorrect Dealing. Should the dealer give any player 
more or fewer cards than he asks for, and the player discover the 
error before taking them up or seeing any of them, the dealer 
must withdraw the surplus card, and place it on the top of the 
pack. Should the dealer give a player fewer cards than he asks 
for, he must supply the deficiency when his attention is called to 
it, without waiting to supply the other players. Should the dealer 
give cards to any player out of his proper turn, he may correct the 
error if none of the cards have been seen ; not otherwise. 

26. The Last Card of the pack must not be dealt. When 
only two cards remain, and more than one is asked for, they must 
be mixed with the discards and abandoned hands, and the whole 
shuffled together, and presented to the pone to be cut. Discards 
of those who have yet to draw must not be gathered. 



156 (Poker.) POKER LAWS. 

27 » After the cards have been delivered by the dealer, no 
player has the right to be informed how many cards any player 
drew ; and any person, bystander or player, volunteering the in- 
formation, except the player himself, may be called upon to pay to 
the player against whom he informs an amount equal to that then 
in the pool. Any player who has made good the ante and drawn 
cards may, before making a bet, ask how many cards the dealer 
drew, and the dealer must inform him. 

28. Betting After the Draw. The first player who holds 
cards on the left of the age must make the first bet, whether he 
has straddled or not. If he declines to bet he must abandon his 
hand. The fact that the age is not playing makes no difference, 
as his privilege cannot be transferred to any other player. Bets 
may vary in amount from one counter to the betting limit. If no 
player will bet, the age takes the pool without showing his hand ; 
or, if he has passed out , before the draw, the last player on his 
right who holds cards wins the pool. 

29. liaising the Bets. Should any player make a bet, 
each player in turn on his left must either bet an equal amount or 
abandon his hand. Should any player bet an equal amount, he 
has the privilege of increasing the bet to any further sum within 
the betting limit. The players on his left must then either meet 
the total amount of the original bet and the raise, or abandon their 
hands. Any player meeting the amount already bet has the privi- 
lege of increasing it to any further amount within the limit, and so 
on, until no further raises take place. Any player whose bet has 
been raised must abandon his hand or meet the raise, with the 
privilege of raising again in return. Should one player make a bet 
or raise which no other player will see, he takes the pool without 
showing his hand, and the cards are shuffled and cut for the next 
deal. 

30. Calling the Bets. As long as one player raises an- 
other's bets, he gives that player the privilege of raising him 
again ; but if a player who has made a bet is not raised, the others 
simply betting an equal amount, the first bettor is called, and all 
betting must cease, The players must then show their hands to 
the table, in order to decide which wins the pool. 

31. Bets must be actually made by placing the counters in the 
pool, and no bet is made until the player's hand has been with- 
drawn from the counters. Any counters once placed in the pool, 
and the owner's hand withdrawn, cannot be taken down again, ex- 
cept by the winner of the pool. 

32. Betting Out of Turn. Should any player bet out of 
his turn, he cannot take down his counters again if he has removed 
his hand from them. Should the player whose proper turn it was 



POKER LAWS. (Poker.) 157 

raise the bet, the player who bet out of turn must either meet the 
raise or abandon his hand, and all interest in that pool. 

33. Mouth Bets, Any player stating that he bets a cer- 
tain amount, but failing to put up the actual counters in the pool, 
cannot be called upon to make the amount good after the hands 
are shown, or the pool is won. If the players opposed to him 
choose to accept a mouth bet against the counters they have al- 
ready put up, they have no remedy, as no value is attached to 
what a player says ; his cards and his counters speak for them- 
selves. Any player wishing to raise a mouth bet has the privilege 
of raising by mouth, instead of by counters ; but he cannot be 
called upon to make the amount good after the hands are shown, 
or the pool has been won. 

34. Showing Hands. When a call is made, all the hands 
must be shown to the table, and the best poker hand wins the 
pool. Any player declining to show his hand, even though he 
admits that it is not good, must pay an amount equal to the ante 
to each of the players at the table ; or, if jack pots are played, he 
must put up Jor all of them in the next jack pot. When the 
hands are called, there is no penalty for mis-calling a hand ; the 
cards, like the counters, speak for themselves. 

35. Hank of the Sands. The best poker hand is a 
Royal Flush; A K Q J io of the same suit, which beats a 

Straight Flush ; any sequence of five cards of the same suit. 

Four of a Kind; such as four io's and an odd card. 

Full Hand ; three of a kind and a pair, such as three 8's and 
a pair of Q's, which beats a 

Flush; five cards of the same suit, but not in sequence. 

Straight; five cards in sequence, but of various suits. In 
straights, the Ace cannot be used to form such combinations as Q 
K A 2 3 ; but it may be used as the bottom of 5 4 3 2, or the top 
of 10 J QK. Straights beat 

Three of a Kind ; such as three K's and two odd cards. 

Two Fairs ; such as two 9's and two 7's, with an odd card. 

A Fair ; such as two Aces and three odd cards. 

If no pair is shown, the Highest Card wins. 

A short hand, such as four cards, cannot be claimed as either a 
straight or a flush. 

36. Ties. In case of ties, the highest of the odd cards de- 
cides it. Ultimate ties must divide the pool. When combinations 
of equal rank are shown, the one containing the highest cards wins, 
the rank of the cards being, AKQ J 10 98765432; so that 
two pairs, K's and 4's, will beat two pairs, Q's and J's. Three j's 
and a pair of 2's, will beat three 4's and a pair of aces. 



158 (Poker.) JACK POT LAWS. 

JACK POT LAWS. 

37. The Antes. There is neither age nor straddle in jack 
pots. Every one at the table must ante an equal amount. Any 
player may decline to ante, by saying : " I pass this jack ; " and 
the dealer will give him no cards. 

38. Opening. After the cards are dealt, each player in turn, 
beginning on the dealer's left, may open the pot for any amount he 
pleases within the betting limit, provided he holds a pair of Jacks, or 
some hand better than a pair of Jacks. If he does not hold openers, 
or does not wish to open the pot with them, he must say : " I pass ; " 
but must not abandon his hand, under penalty of paying five count- 
ers to the pool. 

39. False Openers. Should a player open a jack without 
the hand to justify it, and discover his error before he draws, his 
hand is foul, and he forfeits whatever amount he may have already 
placed in the pool. Those who have come into the pool after the 
false opening, stay in and play for the pot, regardless of the value 
of the hands dealt them. 

40. Fattening. If no player will open, the cards are re- 
shuffled, cut, and dealt, usually by the same dealer, and each 
player adds one counter to the pool. 

41. Coming In. If any player opens the pot for a certain 
amount, each player in turn, on his left, can come in by putting up 
a similar amount, regardless of the value of his hand. Any player 
on the right of the opener who passed on the first round may now 
come in. Any player declining to put up the amount for which 
the pot is opened must abandon his hand, and all his interest in 
the pool. 

42. Raising the Opener. Any player coming into the 
pool has the privilege of raising the original opener any amount 
within the betting limit, and he may in turn be raised again, just 
as in the ordinary pools. Should the opener decline to meet such 
a raise, he must show his entire hand before abandoning it. If he 
declines to do so, he must pay the antes for all the other players 
for another jack. It is not enough to show openers before the 
draw, the whole hand must be shown. 

43. Drawing Cards. Each player in turn who has come 
in, beginning on the left of the dealer, may discard and draw, to 
improve his hand. The opener is allowed to split his openers, pro- 
vided it is the rule of the game that the opener shall always put his 
discard under the chips in the pool, whether he is going to split or 
not. The opener's discard must never be gathered in with other 
discards when the pack runs short for the draw. 



STRAIGHT POKER. (Poker.) 159 

44. False Hands. If a false opener does not discover his 
mistake until after he has drawn cards, his hand is foul, and must 
be abandoned. As a penalty he must put up an ante for each of 
the other players at the table for another Jack. 

45. Setting the Hands. The opener makes the first bet ; 
or, if he has withdrawn, the player next on his left. Should the 
opener decline to bet after the draw, he must show his openers 
before abandoning his hand. He need not show the cards he has 
drawn. If no bet is made, the last player holding cards takes the 
pool without showing his hand. If a bet is made, the game pro- 
ceeds as in the ordinary pools. Should the opener retire during 
the betting, he must show his openers ; if he is in the final call he 
must show his entire hand, whether it is the best or not. If he or 
any other player declines to show his hand when a call is made, 
he must ante for all the other players fo- another jack. 

46. Shy Bets. If any player is shy in a jack pot, whether 
from failure to put up his ante, to fatten, or to substantiate his 
mouth bets with counters, nothing can be collected from him after 
a call has been made, or the pot has been won. 



STRAIGHT POKER. 

Straight Poker or Bluff is played with a full pack of fifty-two 
cards, and any number of players from one to eight. The arrange- 
ments for counters, seats, and deal are exactly the same as in 
Draw Poker, but the method of anteing and betting up the hands 
is slightly different. There is no draw to improve the hand, and 
no such combination as a straight flush is recognized, four of a 
kind being the highest hand possible. 

The ante and betting limit must be decided before play begins. 
The first dealer is provided with a buck, which should be a pen- 
knife, or some similar article. Before dealing, he puts up the 
amount of the ante for all the players, and then passes the buck 
to the player on his left, who must ante for all the players in the 
next pool. There is no variation of the amount of the ante under 
any circumstances, and the buck is passed round the table in this 
manner irrespective of the deal, which is taken by the player 
winning the pool. The laws for the deal and its irregularities are 
the same as in Draw Poker, except that it does not pass to the 
left. 

The cards dealt, each in turn, beginning with the player to the 
left of the dealer, may either bet or pass. Should all pass, the 



160 (Poker.) STUD POKER. 

holder of the buck antes, making a double pool, and passes the 
buck. The deal then passes to the left. Should any player make 
•a bet, each in turn, beginning with the one on his left, must call it, 
raise it, or abandon his hand. Players who have passed the first 
time, must now decide. The rules for seeing, raising, calling, and 
showing hands are precisely the same as at Draw Poker. 

Owing to the absence of the draw, there is no clue to the 
strength of an opponent's hand, except his manner, and the 
amount of his bet. The hands shown are much weaker than the 
average of those at Draw Poker, being about equal to hands that a 
player in that game would come in on. Triplets are very strong 
at Straight Poker, and two pairs will win three out of four pools in 
a five- handed game. The great element of success is bluff. 



STUD POKER 

The arrangements for the cards, seats, antes, buck, etc., are pre- 
cisely as at Straight Poker ; but in dealing, only the first card is 
dealt face down, the remaining four being turned up by the dealer 
as he gives them out. Each player in turn then looks at his down 
card, and the betting proceeds as in Straight Poker, each player 
having the privilege of passing once before a bet is made. 

A much more popular method is to stop the deal at two cards, 
each player having received one face down, and another face up. 
The best card showing then makes the first bet, and each player 
In turn must meet it, raise it, or pass out of that pool. If no one 
will call, the player making the bet takes the pool, and the next 
deal. If a bet is made and called, those in the call do not show 
their down cards, but are each given another card, face up, and 
the same betting process is gone through, the best hand showing 
face up making the first bet in each round. As long as two or 
more players remain in the pool they are given more cards until 
they have five. Then the final betting is done, and if a call is 
made, the down cards are shown, and the best poker hand wins the 
pool. Straight flushes do not count. 



WHISKEY POKER. (Poker.) 161 

WHISKEY POKER. 

The arrangements for the cards, seats, etc., are the same as in 
Draw Poker. Each player is provided with an equal number of 
white counters, which may have a value attached to them, or 
which may simply represent markers. If the counters represent 
money, each player should have at least twenty ; if they are only 
markers, five is the usual number. 

If the game is played for money, each player puts one counter 
in the pool before the cards are dealt. There is no raising or bet- 
ting of any kind. 

An extra hand, called the widow, is dealt face down at Whis- 
key Poker. The dealer gives each player and the widow five cards, 
one at a time, beginning on his left, and dealing to the widow 
just before he deals to himself. Each player in turn, beginning 
with the age, then examines his hand, and has the option of ex- 
changing it for the widow ; keeping it for the purpose of drawing 
to it ; or risking his chances of winning the pool with it as it is. 

If he wishes to exchange, he must place his five cards face up- 
ward on the table, and take up the widow, but without showing it 
to any other player. The hand he abandons then becomes the 
widow. If he prefers to draw to his hand, he says : i( I pass," 
which transfers to the next player the option of taking the widow. 
If he wishes to stand on the merits of the hand dealt to him, with- 
out drawing to it, he "knocks on the table, which also passes the 
option of taking the widow to the next player on his left. 

If any player takes the widow, the next player on his left can do 
any one of three things : He may discard from his own hand any 
card he pleases, taking one from the widow in its stead ; the card 
which he discards being placed on the table face upward, and be- 
coming part of the widow ; or he may exchange his entire hand 
for the widow : or he may stand on the hand dealt him, and knock. 
Whether he draws one card, exchanges his entire hand, or knocks, 
the next player on his left has the option of drawing, exchanging, 
or knocking ; and so on, until some player does knock. 
• Should no player take the widow until it comes to the dealer's 
turn, he must either take it, or turn it face upward on the table. 
Even if the dealer knocks, he must turn up the widow, and allow 
each player an opportunity to draw from it, or to exchange his en- 
tire hand for it. 

When a player knocks, he signifies that no matter what the 
players following him may do, when it comes to his turn again the 
hands must be shown. A player cannot draw and knock at the 
same time ; but a player can refuse to draw or exchange after an- 



162 (Poker.) PROGRESSIVE POKER. 

other player has knocked, not before. In some localities it is the 
rule to turn the widow face up at once if any player knocks before 
it is taken ; allowing all those after the knock an opportunity to 
draw or exchange ; but this is not the usual custom. 

Suppose five play. E deals, and A passes ; B takes the widow ; 
C and D draw from B's abandoned hand, and E knocks ; without 
drawing, of course. A, who passed the first time, now has an op- 
portunity to draw or exchange. So have each of the others in 
turn, up to D ; but after D draws or exchanges, the hands must be 
shown, because the next player, E, has knocked. 

When the hands are shown, there are two ways to settle : If 
the counters have a money value, the best poker hand wins the 
pool, and the deal passes to the left. If the counters have no 
money value, there is no pool ; but the player who has the worst 
hand shown puts one of his counters in the middle of the table. 
This continues until some player has lost all five of his counters, 
and he is then called upon to pay for the whiskey, or whatever re- 
freshments may be at stake upon the game. Hence the name : 
Whiskey Poker. 



THIRTY-ONE. 

This game is sometimes called Schnautz, A pool is made up 
by any number of players. The dealer takes a pack of fifty-two 
cards and gives three to each, face down, and three extra cards to 
the table, dealt face up. Each player in turn to the left can ex- 
change one of his own cards for one of those on the table, the 
object being to get a flush of three cards of some suit having a pip 
value of thirty-one ; or else to get three of a kind. 

The aces are worth n, the other court cards and the ten, 10 
each. If no one can get a flush worth thirty-one, three of a kind 
wins the pool. If no one has three of a kind, the highest pip value 
shown in one suit wins. Drawing is kept up until some player 
knocks, after which only one more draw is allowed, the knocker 
not being allowed to draw again. A player can knock without 
drawing at all if he wishes to prevent the others from beating his 
original hand. 

PROGRESSIVE POKER 

There are several ways to play Progressive Poker, but the 
description of one will suffice. The simplest method of arranging 
the players is to take two packs of cards, one red and one blue, 
and to select two aces from each for the four positions at the 
head table ; three deuces, treys, etc., for the six positions at each 



PROGRESSIVE POKER. (Poker,) 163 

of the other tables until the last or booby table is reached, at which 
there must be only four players at starting. If there are not 
enough players to make exactly six at each of the intermediate 
tables, the numbers may be varied from four to seven, cards 
being selected to agree with the number required ; but the head 
and booby tables must start with four only. The cards thus 
selected are then thoroughly shuffled, and presented face down- 
ward to the ladies to draw from. Each lady takes a red-backed 
card, the gentlemen drawing the blue cards only. The number 
of pips on the card drawn will indicate to each person the table 
at which they are to sit. Should the number of men and women 
not be equal, some of the men must represent women or vice 
versa. 

Each player is provided at starting with a certain number of 
counters, usually fifty. The head table is supplied with a box of 
counters differing in colour from any of those used by the players, 
and also with a bell. The choice of seats, deal, etc., is decided at 
each table exactly as at Draw Poker. 

One deal is made at each table, ordinary Draw Poker is played, 
and when the pool is decided at the head table the bell is struck. 
This is the signal for the winner of the pool at each of the other 
tables to move up to the table next above. At the head table, the 
chips are counted, and the player with the smallest number in his 
possession goes down to the booby table, unless he. was one of the 
players in the call. Should the player with the smallest number of 
chips be the winner of the pool, or one of those who called the win- 
ner, he retains his seat, and the player with the smallest number of 
counters who was not in the call goes to the booby table. This 
arrangement effectually prevents players at the head table from 
waiting for big hands. In case of ties, the players cut to decide 
which shall go down, the lowest cut remaining. The winner of 
each pool at the head table is given one of the special chips pro- 
vided for that purpose, and which are usually yellow, the others 
being red, white, and blue, 

Any player losing all his counters at any table must get a fresh 
stake of fifty more from the banker, and must then exchange seats 
with the player at the booby table who has the most counters. 

Three or four prizes are usually provided for : One for the 
player who has won the greatest number of yellow chips at the 
head table, and one each for the lady and gentleman winning the 
greatest number of counters during the evening's play. Those 
who have been provided with an extra stake must be charged with 
it when settling up. In case of ties for the number of yellow 
chips, the player with the largest number of ordinary counters 
wins. The booby prize, if any, is usually given to the player with 
the smallest number of ordinary chips, or the fewest number of 
yellow ones. 



164 (Brag.) 



BRAG. 



There are two varieties of this old English game ; single, and 
three-stake Brag. Both are played with a full pack of fifty-two 
cards ; the positions of the players, arrangements for counters, de- 
cision of the betting limit, etc,, being the same as in Draw Poker. 
Three to twelve players may form a table. 

There is a special value attached to three cards which are known 
as braggers. These again have a rank of their own ; the best 
being the ace of diamonds / then the Jack of clubs, and 
then the nine of diamonds. All other cards rank as in Poker. 
A player to whom any one of these braggers is dealt may call it 
anything he pleases. If he has a pair of nines and a bragger, or a 
nine and two braggers, he may call them three nines, and bet on 
them as such. In this respect braggers resemble mistigris, already 
described in connection with Draw^Poker ; but in Brag a natural 
pair or triplet outranks one made with the aid of a bragger. Three 
eights will beat an eight and two braggers. 

The dealer must put up an ante before the cards are cut. This 
ante may be any amount he pleases within the betting limit. No 
player can straddle or raise this ante until the cards are dealt. Be- 
ginning on his left the dealer distributes the cards face down, and 
one at a time, until each player has received three. Beginning 
with the age, [eldest hand,] each player in turn must put up an 
amount equal to the dealer's ante, or abandon his hand. He may, 
if he chooses, raise the ante any further amount within the betting 
limit. All those following him must meet the total sum put up by 
any individual player, increase it, or pass out. In this respect Brag 
is precisely similar to the betting after the draw at Poker. 

If no one will see the dealer's ante, he must be paid one white 
counter by each of the other players, and the deal passes to the 
left. Should any player bet an amount which no other player will 
meet, he takes the pool without showing his hand. Should a call 
be made, all the hands must be shown, and the best brag hand 
wins. 

Pairs and triplets are the only combinations of any value, and oi 
course three aces is the best hand ; two aces and the club Jack be- 
ing the next best. If none of the hands shown contains either a 
natural pair or a bragger, the highest card wins, the ace ranking 
above the King. In case of equal natural pairs, the highest card 
outside the pair wins. Should the pairs tied both be made with a 
bragger, the highest bragger wins. Two odd cards, seven high, 
with the club Jack, would beat two cards seven high with the dia- 
mond nine. 

Three Stake Brag. In this variation each player puts up 
three equal amounts to form three equal pools. These amounts 



VARIETIES OF BBAG. (Brag.) 165 

must be invariable, and should be agreed upon before play be- 
gins The dealer then gives two cards to each player, one at a 
time, face down ; and then a third card to each, face up. The 
highest card turned up in this manner wins one of the pools, the 
ace being the highest and the deuce the lowest. The diamond 
ace, being a bragger, outranks any other ace ; the club Jack any 
other Jack ; and the diamond nine any other nine. Ties are de- 
cided in favour of the eldest hand, or the player nearest him on 
the left. 

The players then take up the other two cards, without showing 
them, and proceed to brag on their hands as in single stake Brag. 
The winner takes the second pool ; but those w T ho pass out do not 
abandon their hands until the third pool is decided. If no bet is 
made for the second pool, it is won by the dealer. 

All hands are shown to decide the last pool. Each player 
counts up the pip value of his three cards, reckoning the aces 
for eleven, and court-cards as ten each. The player coming near- 
est to thirty-one takes the third pool. Ties are decided in favour 
of the eldest hand, as before. 

In some places a further variation is introduced by allowing the 
players to draw cards for the third pool, in order to increase the pip 
value of their hands. Beginning with the eldest hand, each player 
in turn pays into the pool a counter for each card he draws. These 
cards are given by the dealer face up, and one player must be 
given all he needs before passing to the next. Should a player 
pass thirty-one, he is out of the pool. Some judgment is necessary 
in drawing in this manner, for all the hands are exposed, and each 
player know T s exactly what he has to beat. 

In American Brag, there are eight braggers ; the Jacks and 
nines of each suit, and they are all of equal rank when used as 
braggers. Pairs or triplets formed with the aid of braggers out- 
rank naturals, so that three Jacks is an invincible hand, beating 
three aces. Two braggers and an ace outrank two aces and a brag- 
ger ; but the absurd part of the arrangement is that three Jacks 
and three nines are a tie. 

The method of playing differs from English Brag. If the 
players simply equal the dealer's ante, nothing unusual occurs, 
and all the hands are shown at once. But if any player raises, and 
another sees this raise, these two immediately exchange hands, 
without showing them to the other players, and the one who held 
the worse hand retires from that pool, returning the better hand 
to its original holder, who then awaits a call or raise from the next 
player in order, the entire amount staked still remaining in the 
pool. This lose-and-drop-out system is continued until only one 
player remains to dispute the pool with the dealer. If they come 
to a call, both hands are shown to the table. If the bragger is not 
called, he takes the pool without showing his hand. 



166 (Euchre,) 



THE EUCHRE FAMILY. 



This family embraces four of the best known and most popular 
games in the world, each of which has been considered the 
national game in its own country : Ecarte in France ; Napoleon in 
England ; Spoil Five in Ireland ; and Euchre in America. 

It has always been the custom to trace the origin of Euchre to 
a variety of Triomphe, or French Ruff, probably introduced to 
America by the French of Louisiana ; and to claim Ecarte as its 
cousin, and the French survivor of the parent game. In the 
opinion of the author, both the game and its name go to show 
that Euchre is of mixed stock, and probably originated in an at- 
tempt to play the ancient Irish game of Spoil Five with a piquet 
pack. " Euchre ! is not a French word, but the meaning of it is 
Vdentical with " Spoil Five " ; both names signifying that the object 
of the game is to prevent the maker of the trump from getting 
three tricks. In the one game he is " spoiled ; "^in the other he is 
" euchred." In the old game of Triomphe, in Ecarte, and in the 
black suits in Spoil Five, the order of the court cards in plain suits 
is the same, the ace ranking below the Jack, But in Euchre the 
Jack ranks above the ace when the suit is trumps, exactly as it 
does in Spoil Five. In the latter game the five is the best trump ; 
but as there is no five' in a piquet pack, that trump was probably 
disregarded, leaving the Jack the best. Taking up, or " robbing" 
the turn-up trump, is another trait common to both Spoil Five 
and Euchre. 

Spoil Five and Triomphe are mentioned in the earliest works on 
card games. Triomphe can be traced to 1520, when it was popu- 
lar in Spain ; and the origin of Maw, the parent of Spoil Five, is 
lost in the mists of Irish antiquity. It was the fashionable game 
during the reign of James I. 

The old Spanish game of Triomphe, now obsolete, seems to 
have undergone several changes after its introduction to France. 
At first it was played either by two persons, or by two pairs of 
partners. If one side had bad cards, they could offer to abandon 
the hand, and allow the adversaries to count a point without play- 



THE EUCHRE FAMILY. (Eucnre.) 167 

ing. If the adversaries refused, they were obliged to win all five 
tricks or lose two points. It was compulsory to win the trick if 
possible, and to trump, overtrump, or undertrump if the player had 
none of the suit led. This peculiarity survives in the games of 
Rams and Loo, which also belong to the euchre family. 

After a time we find a variation introduced in which any number 
from two to six could play, each for himself, and the player first 
winning two tricks out of the five marked the point. Later still 
we find the ace ranking above the King, thus becoming the best 
trump. If the ace was turned up, the dealer had the privilege of 
robbing it, or the holder of the ace of trumps could rob the turn- 
up, discarding any card he pleased, just as in Spoil Five. But in 
Triomphe the dealer turned up another card, and if that was of 
the trump suit the holder of the ace could rob that also, and so on 
until he turned a card of a different suit. This did not alter the 
trump, but merely stopped the robbing process. Whether or not 
Triomphe borrowed this feature from Spoil Five or Maw, it is now 
impossible to say. 

Whatever its origin, Euchre has always been the most respecta- 
ble member of the family, and the game of all others that has best 
served the card-playing interest in social life. Spoil Five probably 
comes next in point of respectability ; but Ecarte has often fallen 
into evil hands, and the very name is in some places regarded as 
synonymous for gambling. The same is true of Napoleon, but in 
less degree.^ Euchre, unlike the other members of the family, is 
not essentially a gambling game, but belongs rather to the intel- 
lectual group of card games ; a position which we hope it may long 
maintain. 



EUCHRE. 

CARDS. Euchre is played with what is commonly known as 
the piquet pack, 32 cards, all below the 7 being deleted. In plain 
suits the cards rank as at Whist ; but in the trump suit the Jack 
is the best, and it is called the Right Bower. The Jack of the 
same colour as the trump suit, red or black, is the second-best 
trump, and it is called the Left Bower ; so that if clubs were 
trumps the rank of the nine cards in the trump suit would be as 
follows : — 





* 









* * 



168 (Euchre.) CARDS AND COUNTERS. 

The rank of the cards in the other suits would be :— 












<> O 

0<>.<> 

o 2 









O <> 

<>o<> 



*4* 



9? 9? 
9? 

9? 
9 <P 



o <>• 
> o 



9? 9 



o 

o o 



When the Joker, or blank card is used, it is always the best 
trump, ranking above the right bower. In cutting, the ace is low, 
the other cards ranking as in plain suits. A player cutting the 
Joker must cut again. 

COUNTERS or whist markers maybe used for keeping the 
score, but it is much more common to use the small cards from the 
deleted portion of the pack. The game is five points, and the best 
method of scoring is to use the 4 and 3 of any suit. When the 3 
is face up, but covered by the 4 face down, it counts one. When 
the 4 is face up, covered by the 3 face down, it counts two. 
When the 4 is face down, covered by the 3 face up, it counts 
three. When the 3 is face down, covered by the 4 face up, it 
counts four. 




One. 



Two. 



Three. 



Four. 



The number of pips exposed on the card which is face up is im- 
material ; the relative position of the two cards will always de- 
termine the score. 

Rubber or game scores must be kept on a whist marker, or on a 
sheet of paper. 

PLAYERS, Euchre may be played by any number of per- 
sons from two to seven ; but in the seven-handed game the full 
pack of fifty-three cards is used. Whatever the number of play- 
ers, they cut for positions at the table, for partners, and for the 
deal. 



(Euchre.) 169 

CUTTING. The cards are usually spread, face down, and 
each candidate for play draws a card. 




Spreading the Pack. 



When two or three play, the lowest cut has the choice of seats, 
and takes the first deal. When four play, they cut for pawners ; 
the two highest pairing against the two lowest. The lowest has 
the choice of seats, and deals the first hand. When five or 
seven play, they have the choice of seats in their order, the lowest 
first, and the lowest cut deals. When sine play, the three lowest 
are partners against the three highest, the lowest cut having the 
choice of seats, and the first deal. 

TIES. Players cutting cards of equal value cut again ; but the 
new cut decides nothing but the tie. 

PL A TEH'S POSITIONS. The eldest hand, or age, sits 
on the left of the dealer, and the pone sits on the dealer's right. 
There are no distinctive names for the other positions. 

When two play, they sit opposite each other. When three 
play, each for himself, the game is known as Cut Throat, and 
the position of the players is immaterial. When four play, the 
partners sit opposite each other. When five or seven play, the 
maker of the trump in each deal selects his partners, and they play 
against the others without any change in their positions at the 
table. When sioo pla r - three are partners against the other three, 
and the v. ^posing play /s sit alternately round the table. 

STAKES. If there is any stake upon the game, its amount 
must be settled before play begins. When rubbers are played, 
it is usual to make the stake so much a rubber point. If the win- 
ners of the game are five points to their adversaries' nothing, they 
win a treble, and count three rubber points. If the losers have 
scored one or two points only, the winners mark two points for a 
double. If the losers have reached three or four, the winners 
mark one for a single. The side winning the rubber adds two 
points to its score for so doing ; so that the largest rubber possible 
is one of eight points ; — two triples to nothing, and two added for 
the rubber. The smallest possible is one point ; — two singles 
and the rubber, against a triple. If the first two games are won by 
the same partners, the third is not played. 



170 (Euchre.) DEALING. 

DEALING, Any player has the right to shuffle the cards, 
the dealer last. The pack must be presented to the pone to be 
cut, and he must leave at least four cards in each packet. Begin- 
ning on his left, the dealer distributes the cards either two at a 
time and then three, or three and then two to each player in rota- 
tion, until all have five cards. Whichever number, two or three, 
the dealer begins with, he must continue giving the same number 
to every player, including himself, for the first round. After the 
cards are dealt, the next card is turned face up on the remainder 
of the pack, except in five and seven-handed Euchre, in which no 
trump is turned. Each player deals in turn to the left, until the 
conclusion of the game or rubber. 

Irregularities in the Deal. If any card is found faced 
in the pack, the dealer must deal again. Should the dealer ex- 
pose any card but the trump while dealing, the adversaries may 
demand a new deal by the same dealer. Should any adversary of 
the dealer expose a card, the dealer may elect to deal again. A 
player dealing out of turn may be stopped before the trump card 
is turned ; but after that the deal must stand, afterward passing 
to the left in regular order. On the completion of the deal, if any 
player has more or less than five cards, it is a misdeal, and the 
deal passes to the player on the misdealer's left. 

The dealer loses his deal if he neglects to have the pack cut ; if 
he deals a card incorrectly, and fails to remedy the error before 
dealing another ; if he counts the cards on the table, or those re- 
maining in the pack ; or if he deals two cards to one player and 
three to another in the same round. 

If the pack is found to be imperfect, the deal in which the error 
is discovered is void ; but all previous scores stand good. 

MAKING THE THUMP. Although a card is turned 
up at the end of the deal, the suit to which it belongs is not neces- 
sarily the trump for that hand. Each player in turn, beginning on 
the dealer's left, whether he be an adversary or a partner of the 
dealer's, may insist on the turn-up suit remaining the trump ; or 
he may declare that he is indifferent as to which suit is the trump, 
the one turned up or some other. But should one player in his 
proper turn decide in favour of the turn-up, no player after him 
can alter the decision. When it comes to the dealer's turn, if no 
other player has decided to retain the suit turned up, he must 
either let the trump remain as it is, or insist on its being changed. 

As the individual or side that settles which suit shall be the 
trump is said to make the trump, it will be necessary to de- 
scribe the method of scoring in order to understand the principles 
that guide the players in deciding on the trump suit. 

SCORING. Euchre is played for tricks. If the side that 
makes the trump takes three or four tricks out of the five possible, 



SCORING. (Euchre.) 171 

it scores one point. If the side wins all five tricks, it scores two 
points for a march* If the player that makes the trump fails to 
win three tricks, he is euchred, and his adversaries score two 
points for the euchre. When four play, if the player who 
makes the trump declares to play alone, that is, without any 
assistance from his partner, who must lay down his cards, the 
maker of the trump scores four points if he succeeds in winning 
all five tricks, and one point if he wins three or four tricks. But 
if he fails to win three tricks, he is euchred, and the adversaries 
score two points. When three play, a lone hand counts three 
if the player wins all five tricks. When two play, five tricks is 
simply a march, and counts two points. WTien five or seven 
play, there are special scores for lone hands. When all five 
tricks are taken by one side, but not by an individual playing a 
lone hand, it is simply a march, and counts two points, no matter 
how many are playing. When two or three are playing, a march 
must of course be a lone hand, as there are no partnerships. As 
we shall see later, there are some varieties of Euchre in which a 
lone hand may play against a lone hand, but this is not permitted 
in the ordinary game. 

No one but the individual player who makes the trump can play 
alone. 

Except in five and seven-handed Euchre, the player or side 
first reaching five points wins the game. If three are playing, and 
two of them reach five points simultaneously by euchreing the 
third, they both win a game. If they are playing for stakes, they 
divide the pool. 

TAKING UP THE TRUMP. After the trump is turned 
up, each player in turn examines his cards, and if he does not care 
whether the trump suit remains unchanged or not, he says: "I 
pass." If all pass, the dealer must decide. The dealer has the 
advantage of being allowed to take the trump card into his own 
hand, discarding one of his worthless cards in its place. If he 
thinks he can make three tricks with the turn-up suit for trumps, 
and his partner's probable assistance, or can win five tricks by 
playing alone, he discards any card he pleases, placing it under 
the remainder of the pack, face down, and without showing or 
naming it. If the dealer decides to play alone, it is usual for him 
to pass his discard across the table to his partner, face down, so 
that there may be no misunderstanding his intention. 

The dealer may take up the trump card at any time during the 
play of the hand ; but it is usual to leave it on the pack until it is 
played to a trick. No one but the dealer can take the trump into 
his hand. 

TURNING DO WN THE TR UMP. If the dealer fears 
that he and his partner cannot make three tricks with the turn-up 



172 (Euchre.) MAKING THE TRUMP. 

suit for trumps, or would prefer to have the suit changed, he can 
pass. If he passes, he takes the trump card from the top of the 
pack, and places it face upward, and partly under the pack, in 
such a manner that it can be distinctly seen. 





Taken Up. Turned Down. 



CHANGING THE THUMP, It then becomes the turn 
of the other players, each in succession to the left of the dealer, to 
name some other suit for the trump, or to pass a second time. If 
the suit of the same colour as the turn-up is named for the new 
trump, it is usual to say : " I make it next," If a suit of a 
different colour is named, it. is called crossing the suit, and 
some players, if a red suit is turned, will say : " I cross to clubs." 

Any player naming a new suit may announce to play alone at 
the same time. The side that makes the new trump must make at 
least three tricks, or it will be euchred, and the adversaries will 
count two points. If a player names the suit that has just been 
turned down, he loses his right to make the trump ; and if he 
corrects himself, and names another suit, he debars not only him- 
self but his partner from making the trump. One player having 
named a new trump suit in his proper turn, his decision is binding 
on all the others ; but should a player name a suit out of his 
proper turn, both he and his partner are debarred from making 
that suit the trump. If no one will name a new trump, the deal is 
void, and passes to the next player on the dealer's left. 

ORDERING UP THE TRUMP. Instead of passing 
the, turn-up trump on the first round, any player who thinks it 
would be to his advantage to have the turn-up remain the trump, 
may order the dealer to take it up. In doing so he says: " 1 
order it," if he is an adversary ; or : " I assist," if he is the 
dealer's partner. • In either case the player making the trump may 
announce a lone hand at the same time. His side must make at 
least three tricks, whether he plays alone or not, or it is a euchre, 
and the adversaries will count two points. In case an adversary 
of the dealer plays alone, he must distinctly announce it when he 
orders up the trump. The usual expression is : i{ I order it 
alone." His partner then lays his cards face downward on the 
table and takes no further part in the play of that hand. If he ex- 
poses any card of the 'abandoned hand, the adversaries can call 
upon him to take up the hand and play it, leaving the exposed card 



PLAYING ALONE. (Euchre.) 173 

on the table as liable to be called. This of course prevents the 
lone hand. 

If the dealer's partner wishes to play alone, instead of assisting, 
he says : " I play this alone/' and the dealer lays down his 
cards, leaving the trump on the pack. 

PLAYING ALONE. No player but the one that takes up, 
orders up, or makes the trump can play a lone hand. If the 
dealer takes up the trump card of his own accord, he can play 
alone. If any player orders up or assists, that player can play alone. 
Any player making a new trump after the first has been turned 
down, can play alone. If one player orders up the trump, neither 
his partner nor his adversary can play alone ; and if the dealer's 
partner assists, that prevents the dealer from playing a lone hand. 
In many clubs the mistake is made of allowing the dealer to play 
alone on his partner's assist ; or letting the pone play alone after 
the dealer has been assisted ; or letting the partner of the player 
who makes the new trump play alone. This is not good Euchre, 
because it gives an unfair advantage to one side, as we shall see 
when we come to the suggestions for good play, especially in 
connection with ordering up at what is called the " bridge ; " that 
is, when the score is 4 to 1, or 4 to o. 

METHOD OF TLA TING. The trump settled, the eldest 
hand, or the player next him on the left, if the partner of the eldest 
hand is playing alone, begins by leading any card he pleases, and 
the others must follow suit if they can. Failure to follow suit 
when able is a revoke, if the error is not discovered and corrected 
before the trick in which it occurs is turned and quitted. If the 
player discovers his mistake in time, the card played in error 
must be left on the table, and is liable to be called. When a re- 
voke is discovered and claimed by the adversaries, it is usual to 
abandon the hand, and the adversaries of the revoking player can 
either deduct two points from his score, or add two to their own 
score, for every revoke made during the hand. The penalty can- 
not be divided. If both sides revoke, the deal is void, and the 
same dealer must deal again. 

Any player having none of the suit led may either trump, or 
throw away a card of another suit. The highest card played, if 
of the suit led, wins the trick, trumps winning against all other 
suits, and a higher trump winningta lower. The winner of the trick 
may lead any card he pleases for the next trick, and so on, until 
all five tricks have been played. If the dealer takes the trump into 
his hand, any player naming it is liable to have his highest or low- 
est trump called ; but a player may ask and must be informed 
what the trump suit is. 

Cards Played in Error. All cards led out of turn, played 
in error, or two or more played to a trick, or dropped face upward 



174 (Euchre.) IRREGULARITIES. 

on the table, are called exposed cards, and must be left face up 
on the table. These must be played when called by the adver- 
saries, unless compliance with the demand would make the player 
revoke ; but the fact of their being exposed does not prevent their 
being got rid of in the course of play if the opportunity offers. 
Some persons imagine that the adversaries can prevent an exposed 
card from being played ; but such is not the case in Euchre. A 
person playing a lone hand is not liable to any penalty for expos- 
ing his cards, nor for leading out of turn, for he has no partner to 
derive any benefit from the information conveyed. • 

Leading Out of Turn. Should any person, not playing 
alone, lead out of turn, the adversaries may call a suit from the 
player in error, or from his partner, when it is next the turn of 
either of them to lead. The demand must be made by the person 
who will be the last player on the trick in which the suit is called. 
If all have played to the lead before discovering the error, it can- 
not be rectified ; but if all have not played, those who have fol- 
lowed the false lead must take back their cards, which are not 
liable to be called. 

Any player may ask the others to draw cards in any trick, 
provided he does so before the cards are touched for the purpose 
of gathering them. In answer to this demand, each player should 
indicate which card of those on the table he played. No one is 
allowed to see any trick that has been turned and quitted. 

Taking Tricks. As the tricks are taken they should be 
neatly laid one upon the other in such a manner that any player at 
the table can count them. All tricks belonging to one side should 
be kept together. At the end of each hand the score should be 
claimed and marked. Revokes must be detected and claimed be- 
fore the cards are cut for the following deal. 

CUTTING OUT. When the play is confined to four 
players, rubbers are usually played, and the table is complete with 
six persons, two looking on, and awaiting their turn. At the end 
of a rubber, if there are more than four players belonging to the 
table, those who have just played cut to decide which shall give 
place to those waiting, the players cutting the highest cards going 
out. If six belong to the table, there will be no further cutting 
out, as those who are out for one rubber re-enter for the next, 
taking the places of those who have played two consecutive rub- 
bers. If five belong to the table, the three who remained in for 
the second rubber must cut to allow the fifth player to re-enter. 
At the end of the third rubber, the two cut that have not yet been 
out ; and at the end of the fourth rubber the one who has played 
every rubber goes out without cutting. Partners and deal are cut 
for at the beginning of each new rubber. 



GOOD PLAY. (Euchre.) 175 

METHODS OF CHEATING. All the Euchre family of 
games, especially Ecarte and Napoleon, offer numerous opportu- 
nities to the greek. So well is this known in Europe that it is con- 
sidered extremely foolish for any person to play Ecarte in mixed 
companies. The small number of cards in the pack, and the cus- 
tom of dealing two and three at a time, gives the dealer an op- 
portunity to bunch four valuable cards, of which he can give 
himself three, and turn up the fourth. False shuffles, shifted cuts, 
and marked cards are formidable weapons. The telegraph be- 
tween partners, and the variation in tone or words in passing are 
frequently used by card-sharpers. One of the commonest devices 
in America is the use of what are known as " jack strippers." 
These are two Jacks, usually both of the same colour, which can be 
withdrawn from any portion of the pack by the fingers of an ex- 
pert, and placed on the top. When the sharp deals, he places 
cards enough on these to supply the other players on the first 
round, so that the strippers will come to him. When only two 
are playing, he strips them out and leaves them on the top when 
he cuts the cards, so that they shall be dealt to him. Never pJay 
Euchre or Ecarte with a man who cuts the pack with both hands. 

Any person who is tempted to bet on any game in the Euchre 
family should remember the advice of the worldly-wise Parisian to 
his son : " Until you have four eyes in your head, risk not your 
gold at Ecarte." 

SUGGESTIONS FOB GOOD FIAT. The chief 
points for the beginner to understand are . When to order up -, 
when to assist ; when to take up ; when to play alone ; and what 
to make the trump if it is turned down. His decision in each 
case will be governed largely by his position at the table, and by 
the score. The following suggestions are for four players, two 
being partners against the other two, and playing without the 
Joker ; that being the most common form of the game. The gen- 
eral principles underlying these suggestions for the four-handed 
game will be found equally valuable in any form of Euchre. 

m ORDERING TIF. Although probabilities are of little prac- 
tical value in Euchre, it may be well to remember that there are 
nine cards in the trump suit ; but as only two-thirds of the pack 
is dealt out, the average number of trumps among four players 
will be six. Of these, the dealer always has the advantage of be- 
ing sure of one more than his share, and it is safe to reckon upon 
the dealer to hold at least two trumps. He may also be counted 
for a missing suit, for he will discard any losing card of an odd 
suit when he takes up the trump. 

The Eldest Hand should not order up the trump unless he has 
such cards that he is reasonably certain of three tricks without any 
assistance from his partner, and cannot be sure of two tricks if 



176 (Euchre.) ORDERING UP. 

the trump is turned down. When Tie holds one or two bowers, 
especially if he has cards of the next suit ; that is, the suit of the 
same colour as the turn-up, he should always pass ; because if the 
dealer takes it up he will probably be euchred, and if he turns it 
down, the eldest hand will have the first say, and can make it 
next. It is seldom right to order up a bower, because the dealer 
will rarely turn down such a card. 

There are exceptional cases in which the eldest hand may order 
up with little or nothing. One of the most common is when the 
adversaries of the dealer are at the bridge; that is, when their 
score is 4, and the dealer's side has only 1 or 2 marked. It is 
obvious that if the dealer or his partner plays alone, he will win 
the game ; but if the trump is ordered up the most he can score is 
2 points for a euchre, and the player who orders up will then have 
a chance to go out on his own deal. For this reason it has come 
to be regarded as imperative for the eldest hand to order up at the 
bridge, unless. he holds the right bower, or the left bower guarded, 
or the ace twice guarded, any one of which combinations is cer- 
tain to win a trick against a lone hand if the eldest hand does not 
. lead trumps himself. Another case is when the score is 4 to 4, 
and the eldest hand has average trump strength, good side cards, 
but nothing in the next suit. It is better to order it up, and risk 
the game on such a hand than to take the chance of the dealer's 
turning it down. 

The Pone, who is the partner of the eldest hand, orders up at 
the bridge on exactly opposite principles. The fact that the eldest 
hand did not order up shows that the dealer cannot make a lone 
hand. This should indicate to the pone that his partner has a 
certain trick in trumps, and if the pone holds any good trumps 
himself, he can often guess what his partner's trumps are. For 
instance : The ace is turned, and the pone holds the left bower 
guarded. The eldest hand must have the right bower, or four 
trumps to the King. If the eldest hand has passed at the bridge, 
and the pone has strong trumps himself, especially the ace or left 
bower and two small trumps, he should order up the trump ; not 
to save the game, but to be sure of winning it by preventing the 
dealer from turning it down. If the pone does not order up at 
the bridge, the eldest hand may infer that he is weak in trumps. 

When it is not a bridge, the pone should be guided by the same 
principles as those given for the eldest hand, because he may be 
sure that his partner will make it next if it is turned down, unless 
he has a certainty of three tricks by crossing. 

If a player calls his partner's attention to the fact that they are 
at the bridge, ooth lose their right to order up. 

ASSISTING, The dealer's partner usually assists on plain- 
suit cards, such as two aces, rather than on trumps. The score 



ASSISTING. (Euchre.) 177 

and the turn-up trump will often be a guide as to whether or not 
to assist. For instance: If the score is i all, or to 2 to 1, and a 
bower is turned, it is rarely right to assist, because it prevents the 
dealer from playing alone. If the partner has good suit cards, 
they may be useful to make a march ; if he has strong trumps, 
especially if sure of three tricks, he should play alone, instead of 
assisting. If the score is 3 in the dealer's favour, he does not need 
a lone hand to win the game, and with two reasonably certain 
tricks in his own hand the dealer's partner should assist, as they 
may win the game by a march. 

If the dealer's side is at the bridge, the score being 4 to 1 or 4 
to o in their favour, and the eldest hand passes, the dealer's part- 
ner must be on the alert to prevent the pone from playing a lone 
hand. He should assist unless a bower is turned, or he has it 
himself, or holds such cards that, combined with the turn-up, he 
is sure of a trick. For instance : The dealer's partner has the 
King and two other trumps, and the ace is turned. It is impossi- 
ble for the pone to make a lone hand, even if he has both bowers, 
and the ace is bare ; for he cannot catch the King, even if his 
partner leads the trump through it. But if a small trump was 
turned, the pone might easily make a lone hand with both bowers 
and the ace. 

TAKING UP, The average expectation of the dealer is 
something over two trumps, including the turn-up. With more 
than two trumps, or with two strong trumps, and a reasonably 
certain trick in a plain suit, the dealer should take up the trump. 
Three trumps of any size and an ace in plain suits is a strong take- 
up hand. It is better to take up the trump with only one plain 
suit in the hand, and small trumps, than with two strong trumps 
and two weak plain suits. The score will often decide the dealer 
in taking up the trump. For instance : At 4 all, it is useless to 
turn anything down unless you have a certain euchre in the next* 
suit, and nothing in the turn-up. Even then, the adversaries are 
almost certain to cross the suit and go out. With the score 3 all, 
the dealer should be very careful about taking up on a weak hand, 
because a euchre loses the game. If he is weak, but has a chance 
in the next suit, or a bower in the cross suits, he should turn it 
down. It is a common stratagem to turn it down for a euchre 
when the dealer is better in the next suit, and has only 2 to go. 

PLAYING ALONE. The dealer has the best chance to 
get a lone hand ; but the eldest hand is more likely to succeed 
with one, on account of the advantage of the lead. It is an in- 
variable rule for any player, to go alone when he has three certain 
tricks, unless he is 3 up, and can win the game with a march. A 
lone hand should be played with both bowers and the ace, no 
matter how worthless the other cards ; or with five trumps to the 
ace without either bower ; or two high trumps and three aces in 



178 (Euchre.) PLAYING ALONE. 

plain suits ; or three good trumps and two aces. The theory of 
this is that while the march might possibly be made with partner's 
assistance, if partner has the cards necessary to make a march, the 
adversaries have little or nothing, and there is a very good chance 
to make a lone hand if three tricks of it are certain. Both bowers 
and the ace, with only the seven and eight of a plain suit have 
made many a lone hand. If the lone player is not caught on the 
plain suit at the first trick, the adversaries may discard it to keep 
higher cards in the other suit ; or they may have none of it from 
the first. There is always a chance, and it should be taken. 

The dealer's partner, and the pone, should be very careful in 
playing lone hands, and should never risk them except with three 
certain tricks, no matter what suit is led first. 

With three sure tricks, some players make it a rule to play alone, 
provided the two other cards are both of the same suit. 

MAKING THE THUMP. When the trump is turned 
down, the general rule is for the eldest hand to make it next. The 
exceptions are when he has nothing in the next suit, but has at 
least two certain tricks in the cross suit, and a probable trick in a 
plain suit. It is safer to make it next with a weak hand than to 
cross it on moderate strength, for the presumption is that neither 
the dealer nor his partner had a bower in the turn-down suit, and 
therefore have none in the next suit. Such being the case, it is 
very likely that one or both may be strong in the cross suits, 
and it is not considered good policy to cross the suit unless so 
strong in it as to be reasonably certain of three tricks. Some 
players invariably make it next, regardless of their hands, unless 
they can play alone in the cross suit. Such a habit exposes them 
to the common artifice of the dealer's turning it down for a euchre. 
A dealer holding a bower and three cards of the next suit, will 
often turn it down, and trust to the eldest hand making it next, 
which will give the dealer four trumps instead of two. The eldest 
hand should be on his guard against this when the dealer's side 
has 3 scored. 

The dealer's partner, on the other hand, should cross the suit 
almost as invariably as the eldest hand should make it next ; for if 
his partner cannot take up the trump, and the eldest hand cannot 
make it next, their hands must be weak, and if it is passed to the 
pone, he will probably turn out to have a lone hand. The best 
chance is to cross the suit, unless the player has three certain tricks 
in his own hand by making it next, such as five trumps to the ace, 
or four trumps and a plain-suit ace. With such cards he should 
play alone. 

The pone should never make the trump unless he has three cer- 
tain tricks, and is willing to play a lone hand. If the dealer turns 
it down, and both the eldest hand and the dealer's partner pass a 
second time, there must be a nigger in the woodpile somewhere. 



LEADING. 



(Euchre.) 179 



LEADING, The general principle of leading is to make 
tricks while you can. It is useless to save up tenaces in plain 
suits, because there are only five tricks to play, two of which are 
certain to fall to the trumps, and it is very improbable that any 
player will lead up to you a small card of a plain suit that will go 
round twice. It is seldom right to lead small cards of a plain suit. 
There is a better chance to make a trick with the King by lead- 
ing it than by keeping it guarded. In the trump suit, tenaces are 
very strong, and should be preserved, especially if the tenace is 
over the turn-up trump. There is a familiar example of the im- 
portance of tenace when only two play, in which one person holds 
the major tenace in trumps, hearts, and must win three tricks, no 
matter which player leads. The cards in one hand are : — 







and those in the other hand are ;— 
^1 




If the player with the major tenace has to lead first, all he has to 
do is to force his adversary with the plain suit, spades. Whatever 
the adversary leads, the player with the major tenace simply wins 
it, and forces again. If the player with the four trumps has the 
first lead, it does not matter what card he plays ; the player with 
the major tenace wins it, and forces with the plain suit. As long 
as the major tenace in trumps is not led away from, it must win 
three tricks in trumps. 

Leading Trumps. With strong cards in plain suits, the 
eldest hand may often lead trumps to advantage if the dealer's 
partner has assisted, especially if the turn-up trump is small. It 
is seldom right to lead trumps if the dealer has taken up the trump 
of his own accord ; but an exception is usually made when the 
eldest hand holds three trumps, and two aces in plain suits. The 
best chance for a euchre is to exhaust the trumps, so as to make 
the aces good for tricks. If the pone has ordered up the trump, 
the eldest hand should lead trumps to him immediately ; but the 
pone should not lead trumps to his partner if the eldest hand has 
ordered up at the bridge. If a bower is turned, the dealer's part- 
ner should lead a small trump at the first opportunity. 

In playing against a lone hand the best cards in plain suits 
should always be led, trumps never. In playing alone, it is best 
to lead winning trumps as long as they last, so as to force dis- 
cards, which will often leave intermediate cards in plain suits good 
for tricks. 



180 (Euchre.) TRUMPING. 

Second Sand. Play the best card you have second hand, 
and cover everything led if you can. With King and another or 
Queen and another, it is usually best to put up the honour second 
hand, on a small card led. 

Trumping. It is seldom right to trump partner's winning 
cards, unless he has ordered up the trump, and you think you can 
lead through the dealer to advantage. In playing against a lone 
hand, it is sometimes good play to trump your partner's ace with 
an unguarded left bower or ace of trumps, as it may prevent the 
dealer from getting into the lead with a small trump, and may 
save a King or Queen of trumps in your partner's hand. If you 
don't trump, the dealer will probably get in and swing the right 
bower, and your trump will be lost. 

If your partner has ordered, made, or taken up the trump, and 
you have only one trump, even a bower, trump with it at the first 
opportunity. Trump everything second hand, unless it takes the 
right bower for a doubtful trick, or breaks into the major tenace 
in trumps. 

Discarding. It is best to throw away singletons, unless 
they are aces. If you have two cards of equal value, but of differ- 
ent colours, one of which must be discarded, it is usual to keep 
the one of the same colour as the turn-up when playing against 
the dealer. Discard suits that the adversaries are trumping. If 
your partner discards a suit in which you have a high card, keep 
that suit, and discard another. If you have both ace and King of 
a plain suit, discard the ace, to show partner that you can win a 
trick in the suit. It is very often important to discard correctly 
when playing against a lone hand, especially if the lone player leads 
trumps for the fourth trick. It is a common practice for modern 
players to signal in the discard if they have a certain trick in a 
suit. This is done by discarding two cards in another suit, the 
higher before the lower. For instance : You have two aces, 
spades and diamonds. The dealer plays alone on hearts, and 
trumps your spade ace the first time. If you have two clubs, such 
as King and ten, discard the King first, and then the ten, and 
your partner will know you can stop the diamond suit. This 
should advise him to keep his clubs. 



CUT-THROAT EUCHRE. 

The chief element in the three-handed game is. playing to the 
score. The player with the strong hand must always be kind to 
the under dog, and partnerships are always formed against the 
man with the high score. Suppose A, J3, and C are playing, and 



CUT THROAT. (Euchre.) 181 

that A has 3 points to his adversaries' nothing on B's deal. It is 
to the interest of A to euchre B; but it is to the interest of C to 
let B make his point, because if B is euchred, A wins the game. 
B -having made his point, C deals, and it is then to the -interest of 
B to let C make his point. Suppose C makes a march, 3 points, 
which puts him on a level with A. On A's deal it is Cs game to 
euchre him, but B must let A make his point ; so that instead of 
being opposed by both B and C, as he was a moment ago, A 
finds a friend in B 9 and the two who were helping each other to 
beat A 9 are now cutting each other's throats. On B's deal, A 
does not want to euchre him, for although that would win the 
game for both A and C 9 A 9 who now has 4 points up, does not 
wish to divide the pool with C while he has such a good chance 
to win it all himself. Suppose B makes his point. A will do all 
he can to euchre C 9 but B will oppose the scheme, because his 
only chance for the game is that A will not be able to take up the 
trump on his own deal, and that B will make a march. 



SET-BACK EUCHRE. 

This is simply a reversal of the ordinary method of scoring, the 
players starting with a certain number of points, usually ten, and 
deducting what they make on each deal. The peculiarity which 
gives the game its name is that if a player is euchred he is set 
back two points, his adversaries counting nothing. The revoke 
penalty is settled in the same way. The game is usually counted 
with chips, each player starting with ten, and placing in the centre 
of the table those that he is entitled to score. 



BLIND EUCHRE. 

Each player is for himself and a widow of two cards is dealt. 
The. player who takes the widow practically orders up the trump 
and must play against all the others after discarding two cards. If 
no one will take the widow, the deal is void. 



182 (Euchre.) 



PENALTY EUCHRE. 

Five players are each provided with twelve counters. An extra 
hand of five cards is dealt face down, for a widow. Each player in 
turn can exchange the hand dealt him for the widow, or for the 
hand abandoned by anyone who has taken the widow, the cards 
being always face down. The turned trump is not taken up by the 
dealer, but is left on the pack. The eldest hand leads for, the first 
trick and every man is for himself, each holding his own tricks. 

At the end of the hand, each player that has not taken a trick 
receives a counter from each of the others, whether they have taken 
tricks or not. Then all those that have won tricks put back into 
the pool a counter for each trick they have taken. The first player 
to get rid of his twelve counters wins the game. 



AUCTION EUCHRE. 

This form of the game is sometimes erroneously called French 
Euchre. The French know nothing about Euchre in any form. 
Auction Euchre is exactly the same as the ordinary four or six- 
handed game, except that the trump is not turned up, the players 
bidding in turn for the privilege of naming the trump "suit. The 
bidder names the number of tricks he proposes to take. There is 
no second bid, and the player who has made the highest bid names 
the trump suit. No matter who is the successful bidder, the eldest 
hand leads for the first trick. The number of points won or lost 
on the deal are the number of points bid, even if the bidder ac- 
complishes more. If a player has bid 3, and he and his partner 
take 4 or 5 tricks, they count 3 only. If they are euchred, failing 
to make the number of tricks bid, the adversaries count the num- 
ber of points bid. Fifteen points is usually the game. 

This is probably the root of the much better games of five and 
seven-handed Euchre, which will be described further on. 



(Eachre.) 183 



PROGRESSIVE EUCHRE. 

This form of Euchre is particularly well suited to social gather- 
ings. Its peculiarity consists in the arrangement and progression 
of a large number of players originally divided into sets of four, 
and playing, at separate tables, the ordinary four-handed game. 

Apparatus* A sufficient number of tables to accommodate 
the assembled players are arranged in order, and numbered con- 
secutively ; No. i being called the head table, and the lowest of 
the series the booby table. Each player is provided with a 
blank card, to which the various coloured stars may be attached 
as they accrue in the course of play. These stars are usually of 
three colours ; red, green, and gold. The head table is provided 
with a bell, and each table is supplied with one pack of cards only. 
It is usual to sort out the thirty-two cards used in play, and the 
four small cards for markers, before the arrival of the guests. 

Drawing for Positions. Two packs of differently col- 
oured cards are used, and from the two black suits in each a 
sequence of cards is sorted out, equal in length to the number of 
tables in play. For instance : If there are sixteen ladies and six- 
teen gentlemen, or thirty-two players in all, they will fill eight 
tables, and all the clubs and spades from the ace to the eight in- 
clusive should be sorted out. These are then thoroughly shuffled 
and presented, face down, to the players to draw from. The 
ladies take only the red-back cards, and the gentlemen only the 
blue. The number of pips on the card drawn indicates the num- 
ber of the table at which the player is to sit, and those drawing 
cards of the same suit are partners for the first game. 

Playing. All being seated, the deal is cut for at each table, 
and play begins. There is no cutting for partners, that being 
settled in the original drawing. Five points is a game, and after 
that number is reached by either side at the head table, the bell is 
struck. Lone hands are usually barred at the head table, so as to 
give the other tables time to make a certain number of points, and 
so to avoid ties. Upon the tap of the bell all play immediately 
ceases, even if in the middle of a deal. If the players at any but 
the head table have reached five points before the bell rings, they 
play on, counting all points made until the bell taps. 

Progressing. The partners winning the game at the head 
table each receive a gold star, and retain their seats for the next 
game. The losing players at the head table go down to the booby 
table, All the winning players at the other tables receive red 



184 (Euchre.) PROGRESSIVE EUCHRE, 

stars, and go to the table next in order above, those at table No. 2, 
going to No. 1. Those losing and remaining at the booby table 
each receive a green star. 

Changing Partners, At all but the head table the partners 
that progress to the next table divide, the lady who has just lost at 
each table retains her seat, and takes for her partner the gentle- 
man who has just arrived from the table below. At the head 
table the newly arrived pair remain as partners ; but at the booby 
table the players who have just arrived from the head table di- 
vide. All being seated, they cut for the deal, and play is resumed 
. until the next bell tap. 

Ties. In case of ties in points at any table when the bell taps, 
those having won the most tricks on the next hand are declared 
the winners. If that is also a tie, the ladies cut to decide it, the 
lowest cut going up. In cutting, the ace is low, and the Jack 
ranks below the Queen. 

Prizes. Six prizes are usually provided for large companies, 
The lady and gentleman having the largest number of gold stars 
taking the first prizes ; the largest number of red stars winning 
the second prizes ; and the largest number of green stars the 
booby prizes. One player cannot win two prizes. In case of -ties 
for the gold stars, the accompanying red stars decide it ; if that is 
also a tie, the player with the fewest number of green stars wins; 
and if that is still a tie, the players must cut for it. 

The hostess decides the hour at which play shall cease, and is 
the referee in all disputes. 



MILITARY EUCHRE. 

The hostess arranges each table as a fort, with a distinguishing 
flag and a number of small duplicate flags. The partners who sit 
East and West progress round the room from table to table, and 
play one game of five points at each, no lone hands allowed. The 
winners of each game get a little flag from the losers as a trophy. 
By the time the E and W pairs have made the circuit of all the 
tables and got home again, the game is ended, the victors being the 
fort that has captured the greatest number of flags. 



(Eachre.) 185 



RAILROAD EUCHRE. 

Railroad Euchre is the name given to any form of the four- 
handed game in which every expedient is used to make points 
rapidly. 

Cards. A pack of twenty-five cards is used, all below the 9 
being deleted, and the Joker added. The Joker is always the best 
trump. 

Players. There are four players, two being partners against 
the other two. Partners, deal, and seats are cut for as in the 
ordinary game. 

Dealing. The cards are distributed as in the ordinary game ; 
but it is usual to agree beforehand upon a suit which shall be the 
trump if the Joker is turned up. 

Playing Alone. The chief peculiarity in Railroad Euchre is 
in playing alone. Any player announcing to play alone, whether 
the dealer or not, has the privilege of passing a card, face down, 
to his partner. In exchange for this, but without seeing it, the 
partner gives the best card in his hand to the lone player, passing 
it to him face down. If he has not a trump to give him, he can 
pass him an ace, or even a King. Even if this card is no better 
than the one discarded, the lone player cannot refuse it. If the 
dealer plays alone, he has two discards ; the first in exchange for 
his partner's best card, and then another, in exchange for the 
trump card, after seeing what his partner can give him. In this 
second discard he may get rid of the card passed to him by his 
partner. If the dealer's partner plays alone, the dealer may pass 
him the turn-up trump, or any better card he may have in his 
hand. 

Any person having announced to play alone, either of his adver- 
saries may play alone against him ; discarding and taking part- 
ner's best card in the same manner. Should the lone player who 
makes the trump be euchred by the lone player opposing him, the 
euchre counts four points. It is considered imperative for a player 
holding the Joker, or the right bower guarded, to play alone 
against the lone hand, taking his partner s best ; for as it is evi- 
dent that the lone hand cannot succeed, there is a better chance to 
euchre it with all the strength in one hand than divided. 

If any player, in his proper turn, announces to play alone, and 
asks for his partner's best, the partner cannot refuse ; neither can 
he propose to play alone instead. 

Scoring. With the exception of the four point's for euchreing 
a lone hand, the scoring is exactly the same as in the ordinary 



186 (Euchre.) RAILROAD EUCHRE. 

four-handed game ; but there are one or two variations which are 
sometimes agreed upon beforehand in order to make points still 
more rapidly. 

Laps. If a player makes more points than are necessary to 
win the game, the additional points are counted on the next game, 
so that there is always an inducement to play lone hands, even 
with 4 points up. 

Slams. If one side reaches five points before the other has 
scored, it is a slam, and counts two games. 

When laps and slams are played, it is sometimes agreed that if 
a person plays alone without taking his partner's best card, or 
the dealer plays alone without taking up the trump or asking for 
his partner's best, and such a player succeeds in winning all five 
tricks with a pat hand, it counts five points. If he fails to win all 
five tricks, the adversaries count one. If he is euchred, they 
count three ; but they are not permitted to play alone against 
him. 

Jambone. Any person playing a lone hand may announce 
Jambone, and expose his cards face up on the table. The adver- 
saries then have the right to call any card they please, either for 
the lead, or in following suit ; but they cannot make the player re- 
voke, nor can they consult, or in any way expose their hands. If a 
lead is required, it must be called by the person on the jambone 
player's left. . If a card is called on a trick, it must be called by 
the person on the jambone player's right. If in spite of these diffi- 
culties the jambone player succeeds in winning five tricks, he 
scores eight points. If he wins three or four only, he counts one 
point. If he is euchred he loses two. It is not allowable to play 
alone against a jambone. 

Jamboree. This is the combination of the five highest trumps 
in one hand, and need only be announced and shown to entitle the 
holder to score sixteen points. If held by the dealer, it may be 
made with the assistance of the turn-up trump ; and any player 
may make it with the assistance of his partner's best ; but it does 
not count unless the holder of it has made the trump. If a player 
with a pat Jamboree is ordered up, all he can score is a euchre. 

As in other forms of Euchre, no one but the maker of the trump 
can play alone, or announce Jambone or Jamboree. Lone hands 
are very common in Railroad Euchre, and ordering up to prevent 
lone hands is commoner still. 



SEVEN-HANDED EUCHME. (Euchre.) 187 



SEVEN-HANDED EUCHRE. 

Cards. Seven-handed Euchre is played with a full pack of 
fifty-three cards, including the Joker. The cards in plain suits 
rank as at Whist ; but the Joker is always the best trump, the 
right and left bowers being the second and third-best respectively. 

Counters. One white and four red counters are necessary. 
The white counter is passed to the left from player to player in 
turn, to indicate the position of the next deal. The red counters 
are placed in front of the maker of the trump and his partners,, 
to distinguish them from their opponents. Markers are not used, 
the score being kept on a sheet of paper. The score is usually 
kept by a person who is not playing, in order that none of those in 
the game may know how the various scores stand. Should an 
outsider not be available for scoring, there are two methods : One 
is for one player to keep the score for the whole table, who must 
inform any player of the state of the score if asked to do so. The 
other is to have a dish of counters on the table, each player being 
given the number he wins from time to time. These should be 
placed in some covered receptacle, so that they cannot be counted 
by their owner, and no other player will know how many he has. 
As it is very seldom that a successful bid is less than five, and 
never less than four, counters marked as being worth 4, 5, 6 and 7 
each will answer every purpose, and will pay every bid made. 

Cutting. The players draw cards from an outspread pack for 
the choice of seats, those cutting the lowest cards having the first 
choice. The lowest cut of all deals the first hand, passing the 
white counter to the player on his left, whose turn it will be to deal 
next. Ties are decided in the usual way. 

Dealing. The cards are dealt from left to right, two being 
given to each player for the first round, then three, and then two- 
again, until each player has received seven cards. The four re- 
maining in the pack are then placed in the centre of the table, face- 
down, and form the widow. No trump is turned. 

The rules governing all irregularities in the deal are the same as 
in ordinary Euchre. 

Making the Trump. The cards dealt, each player in turn r 
beginning with the eldest hand, bids a certain number of points, at 
the same time naming the suit which he wishes to make the trump,. 
There is no second bid, and the suit named by the highest bidder 
must be the trump for that deal. The successful bidder takes the; 
widow, selecting from it w T hat cards he pleases, and discarding; 
others in their stead, so as to restore the number of his cards to 
seven. He then places a red counter in front of him, and chooses 



188 (Euchre.) SEVEN-HANDED EUCHRE.. 

his partners, passing- a red counter to each of them. These coun- 
ters must be placed in front of the players to distinguish them as 
' belonging to the bidder's side ; but the players make no changes in 
their respective positions at the table. Each player should bid on 
the possibilities of his hand, however small, so as to guide the 
others in their selection of partners. 

Partners. If the bidder has proposed to take not more than 
five tricks out of the seven possible, he chooses two partners, and 
these three play against the remaining four. If he has bid to make 
side or seven tricks he chooses three partners, and these four play 
against the remaining three. Partners cannot refuse to play. 
• Playing Alone, Should a player think he can take all seven 
tricks without any partners, he may bid ten, which would outrank 
a bid of seven ; but such a bid must be made before seeing the 
widow. If a player thinks he can win all seven tricks without either 
widow or partners, he may bid twenty, which is the highest bid 
possible. When twenty is bid the cards in the widow must re- 
main untouched. 

Playing, The successful bidder has the lead for the first 
trick. The general rules for following suit, etc., are the same as in 
ordinary Euchre. The bidder takes in all the tricks won by him- 
self and his partners, and one of the adversaries should gather for 
that side. If a player on either side revokes, the adversaries 
score the number bid, and the hand is abandoned. 

Scoring. If the bidder is successful in his undertaking, he 
and his partners, if any, are credited by the scorer with the num- 
ber of points bid, but no more. Should a player bid five, and his 
side take seven, it would count them only five points. If the 
player making the trump fails to reach his bid, he is euchred, and 
the adversaries are credited with the number of points bid. 

Prizes. It is usual to give two prizes for each table in play ; 
one for the highest number of points won during the evening, and 
one for the smallest number ; the latter being usually called the 
" booby " prize. 

Suggestions for Good Play. It is very risky to bid seven 
without the Joker, the odds being 1 1 to i against finding it in the 
widow. A bid of ten should not be made without both Joker and 
Right Bower, and all the other cards winners and trumps. To bid 
twenty, a player should have a practically invincible hand, with at 
least five winning leads of trumps. 

The first bidders are always at a disadvantage, because they 
know nothing of the contents of the other hands ; but after one or. 
two players have made a bid, those following them can judge pretty 
well how the cards lie. For instance : The seven players are A B 
C D EF G. A deals, and B bids 2 in hearts. C and 2> pass. 
E bids 3 in clubs ; and F says 4 in hearts. It is evident that F 



SEVEN-HANDED EUCHRE. (Euchre.) 189 

is bidding on Ws offer in hearts, and intends to choose him for a 
partner. 6r finds in his hand four good spades and the Joker, but 
neither Bower. He may safely bid 5 or 6, taking E for a partner 
if successful, as E very probably has one or both the black 
Bowers. If he bids 5 only, the dealer, A, would have an excellent 
chance to bid 6 in hearts, and to take J3 and F for two of his 
partners, and G for the third, trusting to find him with the Joker, 
or at least protection in one or both black suits. 

If the successful bidder has had no previous bids to guide him 
in his choice of partners, he should take those who have the low- 
est scores, if the scores are known ; because it is to his advantage 
to avoid advancing those who are perhaps already ahead. When 
the scores are not known, there is nothing but luck to guide one, 
unless a person has a very good memory, and knows which players 
are probably behind. 

Leading, If the successful bidder wants 6 or 7 tricks, and 
holds the Joker, he should lead it at once. If he has not the 
Joker, he should begin with a low trump, and give his partners a 
chance to play the Joker on the first round. If the leader cannot 
exhaust the trumps with one or two rounds, it will sometimes be 
to his advantage to lead any losing card he may have in the plain 
suits, in order to let his partners win the trick if they can. In 
playing alone, it is absolutely necessary to exhaust the trumps be- 
fore opening a plain suit. 

Partners should avail themselves of the methods common to 
four-handed Euchre to support one another in trumps and plain- 
suits. The discard should invariably be from weakness if the 
player is the bidder's partner ; and from strength, if opposed to 
him. 

EUCHRE FOB FIVE PLATERS. This is practically 
the same as the seven-handed game, but the pack is reduced to 
28 cards, all below the Eight in each suit being deleted. The 
Joker is not used. Five cards are dealt to each player, by two 
and three at a time, and the three remaining form the widow. 
The player bidding three tricks takes one partner only. The 
player bidding four or five tricks, takes two partners. A player 
who intends to take the wiclow, but no partners, can bid eight 
and one who intends to take neither widow nor partners can bid 
fifteen. In this form of Euchre the scores are generally known, 
and 100 points is game. 

In some clubs it is the practice for the successful bidder to . 
select one of his partners by asking for the holder of a certain 
card. For instance : B has the lead, and has bid five in hearts, 
holding the three best trumps, the club ace, and a losing spade. 
Instead of selecting his partners at random, he asks for the spade 
ace, and the player holding that card must say, " Here " ; upon 
which the bidder will pass him a counter, marking him as one of 
his partners. 



190 (Euchre.) 

CALL-ACE EUCHRE. 

In this variety of euchre, each player is for himself so far as the 
iinal score goes. The one who takes up the trump or orders it up, 
or who makes it after it is turned down, may call upon the best card 
of any suit but the trump. The player holding the best card of that 
suit must be his partner, but he does not declare himself. When 
the highest card of the suit asked for falls in play, the partner is 
disclosed. 

As the^whole pack is not dealt out, it often happens that the ace, 
or even both ace and king, of the. suit called for are in the talon. 
Should it turn out that the caller has the highest card of the suit 
liimself, he has no partner. 

When six play, 32 cards are used, and only one remains unknown. 
When five play, the sevens are thrown out. When four play, the 
eights are also discarded. 

If the maker of the trump does not want a partner, he may either 
say " alone " or he may ask for a suit of which he holds the ace 
himself. 

If the maker of the trump and his partner get three tricks, they 
score 1 point each. If they win all the tricks, they score 3 points 
each if there are five or six in the game ; 2 points if there are not 
more than four players. If the partnership is euchred, each of the 
others at the table scores 2 points. 

For a lone hand, winning all five tricks, the player scores a point 
for as many players as there are at the table, including himself. 
Euchres score 2 for every other player but the lone hand. A lone 
hand making three or four tricks only, scores 1. 



500, OR BE) EUCHRE. 

In this variety of euchre, the joker is always used. When there 
is a trump suit, it is the best trump; but when there are no trumps, 
it is a suit by itself, but still a trump. The player holding it can- 
not trump with it as long as he can follow suit; but when he has 
none of the suit led, he can trump with the joker if he likes. When 
the joker is led in a no-trump hand, the leader must name the suit 
that he wishes played to it. 

Five hundred is supposed to be a game for three players, but 
sometimes two play against two as partners. 

The dealer gives ten cards to each player, three and then two at 
a time as in the ordinary game of euchre ; but after dealing the first 
three cards to each he lays off three cards face down for a widow. 
This widow is taken in hand by the successful bidder, who discards 
three cards in its plaee. 



EUCHRE LAWS. 



(Euchre.) 191 



The players bid for the privilege of naming the trump suit, or of 
playing without any trump but the joker. The number of tricks 
bid must not be less than six, and the suit must be named at the 
same time. The player having the most valuable game, regard- 
less of the number of tricks or the suit, is the successful bidder, 
because a bid of seven in hearts, for instance, is worth more in 
points than a bid of eight in clubs, as will be seen from the follow- 
ing table. 



If trumps are : 


6 tricks. 


7 tricks. 


8 tricks. 


9 tricks. 


10 tricks*. 




40 
60 
80 
100 
120 


80 
120 
160 
200 
240 


120 
180 
240 
300 
360 


160 
240 
320 
400 
480 




Clubs 


300 






500 
6q<& 









The successful bidder always leads for the first trick, after he 
has taken the widow and discarded, and after the hand is played, he 
has the first count. If he has made as many as he bid, he scores 
it ; but he cannot score more than he bid unless he succeeds fri 
winning every trick. In that case he scores 250 if his bid was less 
than 250 ; but if his bid was more than 250, lie gets nothing extra. 
for winning every trick. 

Any player but the bidder winning a trick scores ten points for 
it, so it is necessary for each player to keep separate the tricks he 
^individually wins. 

If the bidder fails, he loses, or is set back, as many points as he 
bid, and he scores nothing for the tricks he takes, but he may play 
the hand out to prevent the others from scoring, as his adversaries 
still get ten points for each trick they win. 

Five hundred points is game, and as the bidder has the first count 
he may go out first, even if an adversary has won tricks enough to 
reach 500 also. 



EUCHRE LAWS. 

1. SCORING. A game consists of five points.. If trie 
players making the trump win all five tricks, they count two 
points towards game ; if they win three or four tricks, they count 
one point ; if they fail to win three tricks, their adversaries corart 
two points. 

2. If the player making the trump plays alone, and maJbes 
five tricks, he counts as many points as there are players m. fl&e 



192 (Euchre.) EUCHRE LAWS. 

game : Two, if two play ; three if three play ; four if four play, 
etc. If he wins three or four tricks only, he counts one ; if he 
' fails to win three tricks, his adversaries count two. 

3. The Mubber is the best of three games. If the first two 
are won by the same players, the third game is not played. The 
winners gain a triple, or three points, if their adversaries have 
not scored ; a double, or two points, if their adversaries are less 
than three scored ; a single, or one point, if their adversaries 
have scored three or four. The winners of the rubber add two 
points to the value of their games, and deduct the points made by 
the losers, if any ; the remainder being the value of the rubber. 

4. FORMING THE TABLE. A Euchre table is com- 
plete with six players. If more than four assemble, they cut for 
the preference, the four lowest playing the first rubber. Partners 
and deal are then cut for, the two lowest pairing against the two 
highest. The lowest deals, and has the choice of seats and cards. 

5. Ties. Players cutting cards of equal value cut again, but 
the new cut decides nothing but the tie. 

6. Cutting Out. At the end of a rubber 'the players cut to 
decide which shall give way to those awaiting their turn to play. 
After the second rubber, those who have played the greatest num- 
ber of consecutive games give way ; ties being decided by cutting. 

7. Cutting. In cutting, the ace is low, the other cards rank- 
ing, K Q J io 9 8 7, the King being the highest. A player expos- 
ing more than one card, or cutting the Joker, must cut again. 

8. SHUFFLING. Every player has a right to shuffle the 
cards, the dealer last. 

9. DEALING. The dealer must present the pack to the 
pone to be cut. At least four cards must be left in each packet. 
If a card is exposed in cutting, the pack must be re-shuffled, and 
cut again. If the dealer re-shuffles the pack after it has been 
properly cut, he loses his deal. 

10. Beginning on his left, the dealer must give to each player 
in rotation two cards on the first round, and three on the second ; 
or three to each on the first round, and two on the second. Five 
cards having been given to each player in this manner, the next 
card is turned up for the trump. The deal passes to the left. 

11. There must be a new deal by the same dealer if any 
card but the trump is found faced in the pack, or if the pack is 
proved incorrect or imperfect ; but any previous scores made with 
the imperfect pack stand good. 

12. The adversaries may demand a new deal if any card but 
the trump is exposed during the deal, provided they have not 
touched a card. If an adversary exposes a card, the dealer may 



EUCHRE LAWS. (Euchre.) 193 

elect to deal again. If a new deal is not demanded, cards exposed 
in dealing cannot be called. 

13. The adversaries may stop a player dealing out of turn, or 
with the wrong pack, provided they do so before the trump card 
is turned, after which the deal stands good. 

14. MISDEALING. A misdeal loses the deal. It is a 
misdeal : If the cards have not been properly cut ; if the dealer 
gives two cards to one player and three to another in the same 
round ; if he gives too many or too few cards to any player ; if he 
counts the cards on the table, or those remaining in the pack ; or 
if he deals a card incorrectly, and fails to correct the error before 
dealing another. If the dealer is interrupted in any manner by an 
adversary, he does not lose his deal. 

15. THE THUMP CARD. After the trump card is 
turned, each player in turn, beginning with the eldest hand, has 
the privilege of passing, assisting, or ordering up the trump. 
Should a player pass, and afterward correct himself by ordering 
up or assisting, both he and his partner may be prevented by the 
adversaries from exercising their privilege. If a player calls his 
partner's' attention to the fact that they are at the bridge, both 
lose their right to order up the trump. 

16. The dealer may leave the trump card on the pack until it 
is got rid of in the course of play. If the trump card has been 
taken up or played, any player may ask, and must be informed by 
the dealer, what the trump suit is ; but any player naming the 
trump card may be called upon by an adversary to play his highest 
or lowest trump. 

17* If the dealer takes up, or is ordered up, he must discard 
a card from his own hand, placing it under the remainder of the 
pack. Having quitted such discard, it cannot be taken back. If 
the dealer has not discarded until he has played to the first trick, 
he and his partner cannot score any points for that hand. 

18. If the eldest hand leads before the dealer has quitted his 
discard, the dealer may amend his discard, but the eldest hand 
cannot take back the card led. 

19. If the dealer takes up the trump to play alone, he must 
pass his discard across the table to his partner. If he fails to do 
so, the adversaries may insist that his partner play with him, pre- 
venting the lone hand. 

20. MAKING THE TRUMP. If the dealer does not 
take up the trump, he must place it under the remainder of the 
pack, face upward, so that it can be distinctly seen. Each player in 
turn, beginning on the dealer's left, then has the privilege of nam- 
ing a new trump suit. 



194 (Euchre.) EUCHRE LAWS 

21. If any player names the suit already turned down, he 
• loses his right to name a suit ; and if he corrects himself, and 

names another, neither he nor his partner is allowed to make that 
suit the trump. If a player names a new trump suit out of his 
proper turn, both he and his partner are forbidden to make that 
suit the trump. 

22. If no one will name a new trump, the deal is void, and 
passes to the next player on the dealer's left. 

23. IRREGULARITIES IN THE HANDS. If 
any player is found not to have his correct number of cards, it is a 
misdeal ; but if he has played to the first trick the deal -stands 
good, and he cannot score anything that hand. 

24. EXPOSED CARDS. The following are exposed 
cards, and must be left face up on the table, and are liable to be 
called by the adversaries : 

I. Every card faced upon the table otherwise than in 

the regular course of play. 

II. Two or more cards played to a trick. The adver- 

saries may elect which shall be played, 
in. Any card named by the player holding it. 

25. II an adversary of a person playing alone exposes a card, 
the lone player may abandon the hand, and score the points. 
Should the partner of the lone player expose a card, the adver- 
saries may prevent the lone hand by compelling the player in error 
to play with his partner, leaving the exposed card on the table. 

26. CALLING EXPOSED CARDS. The adversary 
on the right of an exposed card must call it before he plays himself. 
If it will be the turn of the player holding the exposed card to lead 
for the next trick, the card, if wanted, must be called before the cur- 
rent trick is turned and quitted. Should a player having an ex- 
posed card and the lead, play from his hand before the previous 
trick is turned and quitted, the card so led may also be claimed as 
exposed. 

27. LEADING AND PL A TING O UT OF TURN. 
If a player leads when it was his partner's turn, a suit may be called 
from his partner. The demand must be made by the last player 
to the trick in which the suit is called. If it was the turn of neither 
to lead, the card played in error is exposed. If all have played to 
the false lead, the error cannot be rectified. If all have not fol- 
lowed, the cards erroneously played must be taken back, but are 
not liable to be called. 

28. If an adversary of a lone player leads out of turn, the lone 
player may abandon the hand, and score the points. 

29. If the third hand plays before the second, the fourth hand 
may play before his partner, either of his own volition, or at the 



EUCHRE LAWS. (Euchre.) 195 

direction of the second hand, who may say : " Play, partner." II 
the fourth hand plays before the second, the third hand may call 
upon the second hand to play his highest or lowest of the suit led, 
or to trump or not to trump the trick. 

30. REVOKING. A revoke is a renounce in error, not 
corrected in time ; or non-compliance with a performable penalty. 
If a revoke is claimed and proved, the hand in which it occurs is 
immediately abandoned. The adversaries of the revoking player 
then have the option of adding two points to their own score, or 
deducting two points from his score. If both sides revoke, the 
deal is void. If one person is playing alone, the penalty for a re- 
voke is as many points as would have been scored if the lone hand 
had succeeded. 

31. A revoke may be corrected by the player making it before 
the trick in which it occurs has been turned and quitted, unless the 
revoking player or his partner, whether in his right turn or other- 
wise, has led or played to the following trick. 

32. If a player corrects his mistake in time to save a revoke, 
the card played in error is exposed ; but any cards subsequently 
played by others may be taken back without penalty. 

33. PLAYING ALONE. No one but the individual 
maker of the trump can play alone. 

34. The dealer must announce his intention to play alone by 
passing his discard over to his partner. Any other player intend- 
ing to play alone must use the expression " alone" in connection 
with his ordering up or making the trump ; as, " I order it, alone ; " 
or " I make it hearts, alone." 

35. The partner of a player who has announced to play alone 
must lay his cards on the table, face down. Should he expose any 
of his cards, the adversaries may prevent the lone hand, and com- 
pel him to play with his partner, the exposed card being left on the 
table and liable to be called. 

36. The lone player is not liable to any penalty for exposed 
cards, nor for a lead out of turn. 

37* Should either adversary lead or play out of turn, the lone 
player may abandon the hand, and score the points. 

38. MISCELLANEOUS. No player is allowed to see 
any trick that has once been turned and quitted, under penalty of 
having a suit called from him or his partner. 

39. Any player may ask the others to indicate the cards played 
by them to the current trick. 

40. A player calling attention in any manner to the trick or to 
the score, may be called upon to play his highest or lowest of the 
suit led ; or to trump or not to trump the trick during the play of 
which the remark was made. 



196 (Ecarte.) 

ECARTE. 

Ecarte* is usually described as a very simple game, but unfor- 
tunately the rules governing it are very complicated, and as no 
authoritative code of law exists, disputes about trifling irregulari- 
ties are very common. In the following directions the author has 
selected what appears to be the best French usage. The code of 
laws adopted by some of the English clubs is unfortunately very 
defective, and in many respects quite out of touch with the true 
spirit of the French game. The English are very fond of penal- 
' ties ; the French try to establish the status quo. 

CARDS. Ecarte is played with a pack of thirty-two cards, 
which rank, K QJ A 10987. When two packs are used, the ad- 
versary shuffles one while the other is dealt. 

MARKERS. In France, the game is always marked with 
the ordinary round chips or counters, never with a marker. As 
five points is the game, four of these counters are necessary for 
each player. 

PLAYERS,, Ecarte is played by two persons, who sit oppo- 
site each other. One is known as the dealer, and the other as the 
pone, the adversary, the elder hard, the non-dealer, the leader, or 
the player. 

THE GALLERY. In clubs that make a feature of Ecarte, 
and in which there is a great deal of betting on the outside by the 
spectators, it is not usual to allow more than one game between 
the sam'e players, the loser giving place to one of those who have 
been backing him, and who is called a rentrant. This is known 
as playing the cul-leve. Any person in the gallery is allowed to 
draw attention to errors in the score, and may advise the player he 
is backing, or even play out the game for him, if he resigns. The 
player need not take the advice given him, which must be offered 
without discussion, and by pointing only, not naming the suit or 
cards. If a player will not allow the gallery to back him, taking 
all bets himself, no one may overlook his hand nor advise him 
without his permission, and he need not retire if he loses the 
game. 

CUTTING. The player cutting the highest ecarte card deals 
the first hand, and has the choice of seats and cards. If a person 
exposes more than one card in cutting, the lowest is taken to be 
his cut. If he does not cut, or will not show his cut, he loses the 
first deal. 

STAKES. Ecarte is played for so much a game. If the 
gallery is betting, all money offered must be placed on the table, 
and if the bets are not taken by the players, they may be covered 
by the opposing gallery. 



DEALING. (Ecarte.) 197 

DEALING, It is usual for the dealer to invite his adversary 
to shuffle the cards, but if two packs are used this is not neces- 
sary. The dealer must shuffle the pack and present it to his ad- 
versary to be cut. At least two cards must be left in each packet, 
and the upper part of the pack must be placed nearer the dealer. 
Five cards are given to each player, and the eleventh is turned up 
for the trump. The cards are distributed two and three at a time, 
or three and then two, and in whichever manner the dealer begins 
he must continue during the game. If he intends to change his 
manner of dealing in the following game, he must so advise his 
adversary when presenting the cards to be cut. 

MISDEALING, A player dealing out of turn, or with the 
wrong cards, may be stopped before the trump is turned. But if 
the trump has been turned, and neither player has discarded or 
played to the first trick, the pack must be set aside, with the cards 
as dealt, and the trump turned, to be used for the ensuing deal. 
The other pack is then taken up and dealt by the player whose 
proper turn it was to deal. If a discard has been made, or a trick 
played to, the deal stands good, and the packs, if changed, must so 
remain. 

There must be a new deal if any card but the eleventh is found 
faced in the pack. If the dealer exposes any of his own cards, the 
deal stands good. If he exposes any of his adversary's cards, the 
non-dealer may claim a fresh deal, provided he has not seen any 
of his cards. 

It is a misdeal if the dealer gives too many or too few cards to his 
adversary or to himself. If the hands have not been seen, and the 
pone discovers that he has received more than five cards, he has 
the choice to discard the superfluous cards at hazard, or to claim a 
misdeal, which loses the deal. If the pone has received less than 
the proper number, he may supply the deficiency from the remainder 
of the pack, without changing the trump card, or he may claim a 
misdeal. If the dealer has given himself too many or too few 
cards, the pone may claim a misdeal, or he may draw the super- 
fluous cards from the dealer's hand, face downward, or allow him 
to supply the deficiency from the remainder of the pack, without 
changing the trump. 

If the cards have been seen, the pone, having an incorrect num- 
ber, may supply or discard to correct the error, or he may claim a 
misdeal. If he discards, he must show the cards to the dealer. 
If the dealer has an incorrect number, the pone may draw from 
his hand, face downward, looking at the cards he has drawn, (as 
the dealer has seen them,) or allow him to supply the deficiency, 
or claim a misdeal. 

When any irregularity is remedied in this manner, the trump 
card remains unchanged. 

If the dealer turns up more than one card for the trump, his 



198 (Bcarte.) PROPOSING. 

adversary has a right to select which card shall be the trump, or he 
may claim a new deal by the same dealer, provided he has not 
seen his hand. If he has seen his hand, he must either claim a 
misdeal, or the eleventh card must be the trump, the other exposed 
card being set aside. 

If the pack is found to be imperfect, all scores previously made 
with it stand good. 

TURNING THE KING. If the King is turned up, the 
dealer marks one point for it immediately. If a wrong number of 
cards has been dealt, and a King is turned, it cannot be scored, 
because it was not the eleventh card. 

PROPOSING AND REFUSING. The cards dealt, 
the pone examines his hand, and if he thinks it strong enough to 
win three or more tricks, he stands ; that is, plays without propos- 
ing, and says to the dealer : 6( I play," If he thinks he can im- 
prove his chances by drawing cards, allowing the • dealer the same 
privilege of course, he says : " I propose ; " or simply : 
i( Cards." In reply the dealer may either accept the proposal 
by asking: "How many?" or he may refuse, by saying: 
.** Play." If he gives cards, he may also take cards himself, after 
having helped his adversary. If he refuses, he must win at least 
three tricks or lose two points ; and if the pone plays without pro- 
posing, he must make three tricks, or lose two points. The hands 
on which a player should stand, and those on which the dealer 
should refuse are known as jeuac de regie, and will be found in 
the suggestions for good play. 

A proposal, acceptance, or refusal once made cannot be changed 
or taken back, and the number of cards asked for cannot be cor- 
rected. 

DISCARDING. If the pone proposes, and the dealer asks : 
" How many ? " the elder hand discards any number of cards from 
one to five, placing them on his right. These discards, once 
quitted, must not again be looked at, A player looking at his own 
or his adversary's discards can be called upon to play with his 
cards exposed face upward on the table, but not liable to be called. 
The number of cards discarded must be distinctly announced, and 
the trump is then laid aside, and the cards given from the top of 
the pack, without further shuffling. It is considered imperative 
that the player who has proposed should take at least one card, even 
if he proposed with five trumps in his hand. The pone helped, 
the dealer then announces how many cards he takes, placing his 
discards on his left. The dealer, if asked, must inform his adver- 
sary how many cards he took, provided the question is put before 
he plays a card. 

After receiving his cards, the pone may either stand or propose 
again, and the dealer may either give or refuse ; but such subse- 



DISCARDING. (Ecarte.) 199 

quent stands or refusals do not carry with them any penalty for 
failure to make three tricks. Should these repeated discards ex^ 
haust the pack, so that there are not enough cards left to supply the 
number asked for, the players must take back a sufficient number 
from their discards. If the dealer has accepted a proposal, and finds 
there are no cards left for himself, that is his own fault ; he should 
have counted the pack before accepting. The trump card cannot 
be taken into the hand under any circumstances. 

MISDEALING AFTER DISCARDING. If the 

dealer gives the pone more or less cards than he asks for, he loses 
the point and the right to mark the King, unless it. was turned up. 

If the dealer gives himself more cards than he wants, he loses 
the point and the right to mark the King, unless he turned it up. 
If he gives himself less cards than he wants, he may make the de- 
ficiency good without penalty; but if he does not discover the 
error until he has played a card, all tricks for which he has no 
card to play must be considered as won by his adversary. 

If the pone asks for more cards than he wants, the dealer can 
play the hand or not, as he pleases. If he plays, he may draw the 
superfluous card or cards given to the pone, and look at them if 
the pone has seen them. If the dealer decides not to play, he 
marks the point. In either case the pone cannot mark the King, 
even if he holds it. 

If the pone asks for less cards than he wants, he must play the 
hand as it is, and can mark the King if he holds it ; but all tricks 
for which he has no card to play must be considered as won by his 
adversary. 

If a Dlayer plays without discarding, or discards for the pur- - 
pose of exchanging, without advising his adversary of the fact that 
he has too many or too few cards, he loses two points, and the 
right of marking the King, even if turned up. 

If either player, after discarding and drawing, plays with more 
than five cards, he loses the point and the privilege of marking the 
King. 

Should the dealer forget himself in dealing for the discard, and 
turn up another trump, he cannot refuse his adversary another 
discard, if he demands it, and the exposed card must be put aside 
with the discards. 

If any cards are found faced in the pack when dealing for the 
discard, the deal stands good if they will fall to the dealer. But 
if the exposed card will go to the pone, he has the option of tak- 
ing it, or claiming a fresh deal by the same dealer. 

During all the discards the trump card remains the same, 

MARKING THE KING. The discards settled, the first 
and most important thing before play begins is to mark the King. 
If the King is turned up, the dealer marks one point for it im- 



200 (Ecarte.) * MARKING THE KING. 

mediately. If the pone holds it, he must announce and mark it 
before he plays a card. If he leads the King for the first trick, he 
must still announce it by saying distinctly : " I mark the King; " 
and unless this announcement is made before the King touches 
the table, it cannot be marked. So important is this rule that in 
some European Casinos it is found printed on the card tables. 
Having properly announced the King, it may be actually marked 
with the counters at any time before the trump is turned for the 
following game. 

If the dealer holds the King he must announce it before his 
adversary leads for the first trick. It is in order that there may 
be no surprises in this respect that the elder hand is required to 
say distinctly: "I play," before he leads a card. The dealer 
must then reply : " I mark the King," if he has it ; if not, he 
should say : " Play." A player is not compelled to announce or 
mark the King if he does not choose to do so. 

If a player announces and marks the King when he does not 
hold it, his adversary can take down the point erroneously marked, 
and mark one himself, for penalty. This does not prevent him 
from marking an additional point for the King if he holds it him- 
self. For instance : The pone announces King, and marks it, at 
the same time leading a card. Not having notified the dealer that 
he was about to play, the dealer cannot be deprived of his right to 
mark the King himself, if he holds it. The dealer marks the 
King, marks another point for penalty, and takes down the pone's 
point, erroneonsly marked. If the player announcing the King 
without holding it, discovers his error before a card is played, he 
simply amendsthe score and apologizes, and there is no penalty. 
If any cards have been played after an erroneous announcement 
of the King, such cards can be taken back by the adversary of the 
player in error, and the hand played over again. 

METHOD OF PLAYING. The elder hand* begins by 
leading any card he pleases, at the same time announcing the suit ; 
° hearts ; " " spades ; " or whatever it may be. This announcement 
must be continued at every trick. If a player announces one suit 
and leads another, his adversary may demand that he take back 
the card played, and lead the suit announced. If he has none of 
the announced suit, the adversary may call a suit. If the adver- 
sary is satisfied with the card led, but improperly announced, he 
may demand that it remain as played. 

RENOUNCING. When a card is led the adversary must 
not only follow suit, but must win the trick if he can. If he can 
neither follow suit nor trump, he may discard any card he pleases. 
Should a player not follow suit, or should he decline to win the 
trick, when able to do so, it is a renounce, and if he makes the odd 
trick he counts nothing ; if he makes all five tricks, he counts one 



RENOUNCING. (ECatte.) 201 

point only, instead of two. Should he trump the trick when he can 
follow suit, he is subject to the same penalty. There is no such 
thing as a revoke in Ecarte. When it is discovered that a player 
has not followed suit when able, or has lost a trick that he could 
have won, the cards are taken back, and the hand played over 
again, with the foregoing penalty for the renounce. 

The highest card played, if of the suit led, wins the trick, and 
trumps win all other suits. 

Leading Out of Turn. Should a player lead out of turn, he 
may take back the card without penalty. If the adversary has' 
played to the erroneous lead, the trick stands good. 

Gathering Tricks. The tricks must be turned down as 
taken in, and any player looking at a trick once turned and quitted 
may be called upon to play with the remainder of his hand ex- 
posed, but not liable to be called. 

Abandoned Hands. If, after taking one or more tricks, a 
player throws his cards upon the table, he loses the point ; if he 
has not taken a trick, he loses two points. But if the cards are 
thrown down claiming the point or the game, and the claim is 
good, there is no penalty. If the cards are abandoned with the 
admission that the adversary wins the point or the game, and the 
adversary cannot win more than is admitted, there is no penalty. 

SCOHING. A game consists of five points, which are made 
by tricks, by penalties, and by marking the King. A player win- 
ning three tricks out of the five possible, counts one point toward 
game ; winning all five tricks, which is called the vole, counts 
two points. The player holding or turning up the King of trumps 
may mark one point for it, but he is not compelled to do so. 

If the pone plays without proposing, and makes three or four 
tricks, he counts one point ; if he makes the vole he counts two 
points ; but if he 'fails to make three tricks the dealer counts two. 

If the dealer refuses the first proposal, he must make three tricks 
to count one point ; if he makes the vole he counts two points ; but 
if he fails to win three tricks the player who was refused counts 
two points. 

If the dealer accepts the first proposal, and gives cards, subse- 
quent proposals and refusals do not affect the score ; the winner of 
the odd trick scoring one point, and the winner of the vole two 
points. 

In no case can a player make more than two points in one hand 
by tricks. If the dealer refuses the first proposal, and the pone 
makes the vole, it counts two points only. If the pone should play 
without proposing, and the dealer should mark the King and win 
the vole, it would count him only three points altogether. 

The player first reaching five points wins the game. If a 
player has four scored, and turns the King, that wins the game, 



202 (Ecarte.) GOOD PLAY 

provided the King was the eleventh card. Rubbers are seldom 
played. 

CHEATING. The methods of cheating at £carte" would fill 
a volume. There are many tricks which, while not exactly fraudu- 
lent, are certainly questionable. For instance : A player asks the 
gallery whether or not he should stand, and finally concludes to 
propose, fully intending all the time to draw five cards. Another 
will handle his counters as if about to mark the King ; will then af- 
fect to hesitate, and finally re-adjust them, and ask for cards, 
probably taking four or five, having absolutely nothing in his hand. 
The pone will ask the dealer how many points he has marked, 
knowing perfectly well that the number is three. On being so in- 
formed, he concludes to ask for cards, as if he were not quite 
strong enough to risk the game by standing; when as a matter of 
fact he wants five cards, and is afraid of the vole being made 
against him. 

There are many simple little tricks practiced by the would-be 
sharper, such as watching how many cards a player habitually cuts, 
and then getting the four Kings close together in such a position in 
the pack that one of them is almost certain to be turned. Tele- 
graphic signals between persons on opposite sides of the gallery 
who are nevertheless in partnership, are often translated into ad- 
vice to the player, to his great benefit. Besides these, all the ma- 
chinery of marked cards, reflectors, shifted cuts, wedges, strippers, 
and false shuffles are at the command of the philosopher, who can 
always handle a small pack of cards with greater freedom, and to 
whom the fashion of dealing in twos and threes is always welcome. 
The honest card-player has not one chance in a thousand against 
the professional at Ecarte. 

SUGGESTIONS FOB, GOOD PLAT. The French 
claim that any person may become an expert at a game like Pi- 
quet, simply by dint of long practice ; but that the master of Ecarte 
must be a born card-player, as no game requires in such degree 
the exercise of individual intelligence and finesse. While this may 
be true, there are many points about the game which may be 
learned by the novice, and which will greatly improve his play. 

There are two things which the beginner should master before 
sitting down to the table for actual play : the hands on Which it is 
right to stand, or play without proposing , and those with which it 
is right to refuse, or play without giving cards. These are called 
stand hands, or jeuoc de regie, "and the player should be able 
to recognize them on sight. 

In the following paragraphs the words dealer and player 
will be used to distinguish the adversaries at Ecarte\ 

The principle underlying the jeux de regie is the probable distri- 
bution of the cards in the trump suit, and the fact that the odds 



JEUX DE BJbGLE. 



(Ecarte.) 203 



are always against the dealer's holding two or more. There are 
thirty-two cards in the Ecarte pack, of which eight are trumps, and 
one of these is always turned up. The turn-up and the player 1 s 
hand give us six cards which are known, and leave twenty-six un- 
known. Of these unknown cards the dealer holds five, and he 
may get these five in 65,780 different ways. The theory of the 
jeux de regie is that there are oniy a certain number of those ways 
which will give him two or more trumps. If the player holds one 
trump, the odds against the dealer's holding two or more are 
44,574 to 21,206 ; or a little more than 2 to 1. If the player holds 
two trumps, the odds against the dealer's holding two or more are 
50,274 to 15,506 ; or more than 3 to 1. It is therefore evident that 
any hand which is certain to win three tricks if the dealer has not 
two trumps, has odds of two to one in its favour, and all such 
hands are called jeux de regie. The natural inference from this is 
that such hands should always be played without proposing, un- 
less they contain the King of trumps. 

The exception in case of holding the King is made because there 
is no danger of the dealer's getting the King, no matter how many 
cards he draws, and if the player's cards are not strong enough to 
make it probable that he can win the vole, it is better for him to 
ask for cards, in hope of improving his chances. If he is refused, 
he stands an excellent chance to make two points by winning the 
odd trick. 

While it is the rule for the player to stand when the odds are 
two to one in his favour for making the odd trick, and to ask for 
cards when the odds are less, there are exceptions. The chances 
of improving by taking in cards must not be forgotten, and it must 
be remembered that the player who proposes runs no risk of pen- 
alty. He has also the advantage of scoring two for the vole if he 
can get cards enough to win every trick, whereas the dealer gets 
no more for the vole than for the odd trick if the player does not 
propose. Some beginners have a bad habit of asking for cards if 
they are pretty certain of the point. Unless they hold the King 
this is not wise, for the player cannot discard more than one or 
two cards, but the dealer may take five, and then stands a fair 
chance of getting the King, which would not only count a point 
for him, but would effectually stop the vole for which the player 
was drawing cards. 

The most obvious example of a jeux de regie is one trump, a 
winning sequence of three cards in one suit, and a small card in 
another. For instance : Hearts trumps — 



44,724 to 21,056. 




204 (Ecarte.) JEUX DE bISGL'K 

If the dealer does not hold two trumps, it is impossible to pre- 
vent the player from winning the point with these cards ; because 
he need only lead his winning sequence until it is trumped, and 
then trump himself in again. With this hand the player will win 
44,724 times out of 65,780. 

There are about twenty hands which are generally known as 
jeux de regie, and every ecarte player should be familiar with 
them. In the following examples the weakest hands are given, 
and the trumps are always the smallest possible. If the player 
has more strength in plain suits than is shown in these examples, 
or higher trumps, there is so much more reason for him to stand. 
But if he has not the strength indicated in plain suits, he should 
propose, even if his trumps are higher, because it must be remem- 
bered that strong trumps do not compensate for weakness in plain 
suits. The reason for this is that from stand hands trumps 
should never be led unless there are three of them ; they are to be 
kept for ruffing, and when you have to ruff it does not matter 
whether you use a seven or a Queen. The King of trumps is of 
course led ; but a player does not stand on a hand containing the 
King. 

The first suit given is always the trump, and the next suit is al- 
ways the one that should be led, beginning with the best card of 
it if there is more than one. The figures on the right show the 
number of hands in which the player or the dealer will win out of 
the 65,780 possible distributions of the twenty-six unknown cards. 
These calculations are taken, by permission of Mr. Charles Mossop, 
from the eighth volume of the " Westminster Papers, in which 
all the variations and their results are given in full. 



* * 

* * 


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9 9 

9 
9 9 

9 9 


9 9 

9 
9 9 


9 9 

9 V 9 

9 9 



19 


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9 


h 


9 



9 9 
9 

9 9 

9 
9 9 


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4. 4. 


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Player Dealer 

Wins. Wins. 

47,768 l8,OI2 



46,039 19,741 

43,764 22,Ol6 

45,374 20,406 



JETJX DE R&GLE. (Ecarte,) 205 



*** 

4. 4. 
4. 4. 


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Player Dealer 

Wins. Wins. 

44,169 2I,6lI 



43,478 22,302 



44,243 21,537 



44,766 2I,OI4 



10 



•5" A 

4. 4. 

4. 4- 


4. 4. 
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44,459 21,321 



U 



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44,034 21,746 



12 



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43,434 22,346 



IS 



14 



15 




44,766 21,014 



46,779 19,001 



45,929 19,851 



206 (Ecarte.) 



JEUX DE B&GLE. 



The player should always stand on a hand containing three 
trumps, not including the King, and should lead the trump : — 



16 









V 

* * 







42,014 to 23,766 



An example of a hand containing only one trump has already 
been given, and some hands are jeux de regie which contain no 
trumps. The strongest of these is the King of each plain suit, 
and any queen. Lead the K Q suit : — 



17 



* 4 
* * 




48,042 to 17,738 



The odds in favour of this hand are greater than in any other 
jeux de regie. Another which is recommended by Bohn is this, 
the odds in favour of which have not been calculated ; the player 
to begin with the guarded King : — 



18 



4. £ 



V 

o 

o 




Another is any four court cards, not all Jacks ; unless one is the 
trump Jack guarded. From the example the Queen should be 
led:— 



19 



There are two hands which are usually played with only one 
trump, from both of which the best card of the long suit is led : — 



20 



21 



9? 


V 

* * 




* * 

* 4 


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* 

* 

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IMPORTANCE OF TENACE. (Ecarte.) 207 

THE LEADER. There are a great many more opportuni- 
ties to make the vole than most players are aware of ; especially 
with jeux de regie. Where the vole is improbable or impossible, 
tenace is very important, and all tenace positions should be made 
the most of. In No. 5, for instance, if the clubs were the Queen 
and ace, it would be better to begin with the heart King, instead 
of leading away from the minor tenace in clubs. Observe the 
lead in No. 4. Many tenace positions cannot be taken advantage 
of because the player must win the trick if he can. For instance : 
Several discards have been made, and each player suspects the 
other holds three trumps, with three tricks to play. The Queen is 
led, and the adversary holds K A 7. If he could pass this trick, 
he must lie tenace ; but as he has to win it with the King, he gives 
tenace to Igis adversary, who evidently has J and another. 

When the dealer is four., the player may stand on much weaker 
hands. 

It is usually best to lead from guarded suits, in preference to 
single cards. Lead the best of a suit if you have it. If the third 
trick is the first you win, and you have a trump and another card, 
lead the trump ; but if you have won two tricks, lead the plain suit. 

THE DEALER. .When the player asks for cards, the 
dealer knows that his adversary probably does not hold a jeux de 
regie. The dealer must not be too sure of this, however, for pro- 
posals are sometimes made on very strong hands in order to try 
for the vole, or to make two points on the refusal. The dealer 
should assume that he is opposed by the best play until he finds 
the contrary to be the case, and it is safest to play on the assump- 
tion that a player who proposes has not a jeux de r£gle. 

For all practical purposes it may be said that the dealer can re- 
fuse to give cards with hands a trifle less strong than those on 
which the player would stand. The general rule is for the dealer 
to give cards unless he is guarded in three suits ; or has a trump, 
and is safe in two suits ; or has two trumps, and is safe in one 
suit. If the dealer has only one suit guarded, and one trump, he 
must take into account the risk of being forced, and having to lead 
away from his guarded suit. 

There are eight recognized hands on which the dealer should re- 
fuse. The full details of the calculations can be found in the 
ninth volume of the " Westminster Papers." As in the case of 
the player, the weakest trumps have been taken for the exam- 
ples, and the weakest holdings in plain suits. If the dealer has 
better plain suits, or stronger trumps, he has of course so much 
more in his favour if he refuses. The first column of figures gives 
the number of times in 65,780 that there will be no proposal, so 
that the dealer has no choice but to play. The other columns 
give the number of times the dealer or the player will win if the 
player proposes and the dealer refuses. 



208 (Ecarte.) REFUSAL HANDS. 

The first suit given in each instance is the trump. 



22 



23 



24 



25 



26 



27 



28 



29 



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9? 9 

9? 9? 


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4. 4. 


9? 9? 

9? 
9? 97 

9? 9? 



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4. 4. 

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9? 9 



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9? 9? 



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4. 
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No . 

Proposal 

6,034 


Dealer 

Wins. 

36,974 


Player 
Wins. 
22,772 


9,826 


38,469 


17,485 


8,736 


4I,69£ 


15.345 


9,256 


40,524 


l6,000 


10,336 


37,484 


17,960 


97/6 


37,439 


18,565 


9,776 


36,909 


19,095 


9776 


36,733 


19,27? 



In giving cards, some judgment of human nature is necessary. 
Some players habitually propose on strong hands, and it is best to 
give to such pretty freely. 

DISCARDING. The general principle of discarding is to 
keep trumps and Kings, and let everything else go. If you hold 
the trump King you may discard freely in order to strengthen 
your hand for a possible vole. If you have proposed once, and 



LAWS AND TEXT BOOKS. (Ecarte.) 209 

hold the King, and feel pretty sure of the point, you may propose 
again on the chance of getting strength enough to make the vole. 

When only two cards can be discarded, it is a safe rule to stand 
on the hand ; either to play without proposing, or to refuse cards ; 
unless you hold the King. 

There are no authoritative laws for Ecarte, and the various 
French and English codes do not agree. The code adopted by 
the English clubs is not in accord with the best usage, and fails to 
provide for many contingencies. All that is essential in the laws 
will be found embodied in the foregoing description of the game. 

TEXT BOOKS. The best works on the subject of Ecarte 
are usually to be found in conjunction with other games. The 
student will find the following useful : — 

The Westminster Papers, Vols. IV to XI, inclusive. 

Bonn's Handbook of Games ; any edition. 

Ecarte and Euchre, by Berkeley, 1890. 

Cavendish on Ecarte, 1886. 

Jeux de Cartes, (Fr.), by Jean Boussac. 

Regies de Tous les Jeux, (Fr.), M. Dreyfous, Edit. 

Academie des Jeux, (Fr.), by Van Tenac. 

Academie des Jeux, (Fr.), by Richard. 

Short Whist, by Major A. (Ecarte Laws in appendix.) 



POOL ECARTfc. 

Pool Ecarte is played by three persons, each of whom con- 
tributes an agreed sum, which is called a stake, to form a pool. 
They then cut to decide which shall play the first game, the lowest 
ecarte card going out. The players then cut for the first deal, 
choice of seats and cards, etc., exactly as in the ordinary game. 

The winner of the first game retains his seat ; the loser pays into 
the pool another stake, equal to the first, and retires in favour of 
the third player, who is called the rentrant. The rentrant takes 
the loser's seat and cards, and cuts with the successful player for 
the first deal. The loser of the second game adds another stake 
to the pool, and retires in favour of the waiting player. 

The pool is won by any player winning two games in succession. 
If the winner of the first game won the second also, he would 
take the pool, which would then contain five stakes ; the three 
originally deposited, and the two added by the losers of the two 
games. A new pool would then be formed by each of the three 
depositing another stake, and all cutting to decide which should 
sit out for the first game. 



210 (Ecarte.) POOL j&CAUTA 

In some places only the two players actually engaged contribute 
to the pool, the loser retiring without paying anything further 
and the rentrant contributing his stake when he takes the loser's 
place. 

The outsider is not allowed to advise either player during the 
first game, nor to call attention to the score ; but on the second 
game he is allowed to advise the player who has taken his seat 
and cards. This is on the principle that he has no right to choose 
sides on the first game ; but that after that he has an interest in 
preventing his former adversary from winning the second game, 
so as to preserve the pool until he can play for il-again himself. 



NAPOLEON, 

OR NAP. 

This is one of the simplest, and at the same time most popular 
of the euchre family. Few games have become so widely known 
in such a short time, or have had such a vogue among all classes 
of society. So far as the mere winning and losing goes, che result 
depends largely upon luck, and skill is of small importance. Ex- 
cept in a long series of games the average player has little to fear 
from the most expert. 

CAItDS. Napoleon is played with a full pack of fifty-two 
cards, which rank AKQJ1098 76 5 4 3 2; the ace being 
highest in play ; but ranking below the deuce in cutting. 

COUNTERS, As each deal is a complete game in itself it 
must be settled for in counters, to which some value is usually 
attached. One player is selected for the banker, and before play 
begins each ol the others purchases from him a certain number of 
counters, usually fifty. When any player's supply is exhausted, 
he can purchase more, either from the banker or from another 
player. 

In many places counters are not used, and the value of the 
game is designated by the coins that take their place. In "penny 
nap," English coppers are used in settling; sixpences in " sixpenny 
nap," and so on. In America, nickel and quarter nap are the 
usual forms. 

JPLAYERS. Any number from two to six can play; but 
four is the best game. If five or six play it is usual for the dealer 
to give himself no cards. 

CUTTING* The players draw from an outspread pack to 



DEALING AND BIDDING. (Nap.) 211 

form the table, and for choice of seats. A lower cut gives prefer- 
ence over all higher ; the lowest cut has the first choice of seats, 
and deals the first hand. Ties cut again, but the new cut de- 
cides nothing but the tie. 

In some places the players take their seats at random, and a 
card is then dealt to each face upward ; the lowest card or the 
first Jack taking the deal. 

DEALING. Any player has a right to shuffle the cards, the 
dealer last. They are then presented to the pone to be cut, and 
at least four cards rau: *■ be left in each packet. Beginning at his 
left, the dealer gives each k Ir.yr in rotation two cards on the first 
round, and three on the next ; or three on the first and two on 
the next. No trump is turned. In some places the cards are dis- 
tributed one at a time until each player has five ; but the plan is 
not popular, as the hands run better and the bidding is livelier 
when the cards are dealt in twos and threes. The deal passes 
to the left, each player dealing in turn. 

MISDEALING. A misdeal does not lose the deal in Na- 
poleon, because the deal is a disadvantage. For this reason, if 
any player begins to deal out of turn, he must finish, and the deal 
stands good. If any card is found faced in the pack, or is exposed 
by the dealer ; or if too many or too few cards" are given to any 
player ; or if the dealer does not give the same number of cards to 
each player in the same round ; or if he fails to have the pack cut, 
it is a misdeal, and the misdealer must deal again with the same 
pack. 

BIDDING. Beginning on the dealer's left, each player in 
turn bids for the privilege of naming the trump suit, stating the 
number of tricks he proposes to win, playing single-handed against 
the three other players, and leading a trump for the first trick. In 
bidding, the trump suit is not named, only the number of tricks. 
If a player proposes to win all five tricks he bids nap, which is 
the highest bid possible, and precludes any further bidding, ex- 
cept in some of the variations which will be described later on. 
If a player will not make a bid, he says < 6 1 pass." A bid having 
been made, any following player must either increase it or pass. 
If all pass until it comes to the dealer, he is bound to bid at least 
one trick, and either play or pay. The hands are never abandoned 
except in case of a misdeal. 

In some places a mis&re bid is allowed, which outranks a bid 
of three tricks, and is beaten by one of four. There is no trump 
suit in misere, but the bidder, if successful, must lead for the first 
trick. 

Any bid once made can neither be amended nor recalled, and 
there is no second bid. 

METHOD OF PLAYING. The player bidding the high- 
est number of tricks has the first lead, and the first card he plays 



212 (Nap.) METHOD OF PLAYING. 

must be one of the trump suit. The players must follow suit 
if able, but need not win the trick unless they choose to do so. 
The highest card played of the suit led wins the trick, and trumps 
win all other suits. The winner of the trick leads again for the 
next trick, and so on, until all five tricks have been played. After 
the first trick any suit may be led. 

The bidder gathers all tricks he wins, stacking them so that they 
may be readily counted by any player at the table. One of the 
other side should gather all tricks won by the adversaries of the 
bidder. A trick once turned and quitted cannot again be seen. 
In some places they have a very bad habit of gathering tricks with 
the cards face up, turning down one card only. This always 
results in numerous misdeals, on account of cards being contin- 
ually found faced in the pack. 

The hands are usually abandoned when the bidder succeeds in 
his undertaking, or shows cards which are good for his bid against 
any play. If it is^ impossible for him to succeed, as when he bids 
four and the adversaries have won two tricks, the hands are thrown 
up, because nothing is paid for under or over-tricks. Players 
should show the remainder of their hands to the board, as evidence 
that no revoke has been made. 

IFFEGTJLAFITIES IN HANDS. If a player, before 
he makes a bid or passes, discovers that he holds too many or too 
few cards, he must immediately claim a misdeal. If he has either 
made a bid or passed, the deal stands good, and the hand must be 
played out. If the bidder has his right number of cards and suc- 
ceeds, he must be paid. If he fails, he neither wins nor loses ; 
because he is playing against a foul hand. If the bidder has more 
than his right number of cards he must pay if he loses ; but wins 
nothing if he succeeds. If he has less than his right number of 
cards, he is simply supposed to have lost the trick for which he 
has no card to play. 

FLAYING OUT OF TUFN. If any adversary of the. 
bidder leads or plays out of turn, he forfeits three counters to the 
bidder, independently 6i the result of the hand, and receives noth- 
ing if the bid is defeated. If the bidder leads out of turn, the card 
must be taken back, unless all have followed the erroneous lead, 
in which case the trick is good. There is no penalty if he plays 
out of turn. 

FEVOKES, When a revoke is detected and claimed, the 
hands are immediately abandoned, and the individual player in 
fault must pay all the counters depending on the result. If he is 
the bidder, he pays each adversary ; if he is opposed to the bidder, 
he pays for himself and for each of his partners. In England it is 
the rule to take back the cards and play the hand over again, as 
at Ecarte, the revoking player paying all the stakes according to 
the result. This is often very unfair to the bidder, and leads to 



GOOD PLAY. (Nap,) 213 

endless disputes as to who held certain cards which have been 
gathered into tricks. Sometimes the difference between a seven 
and an eight in a certain player's hand will change the entire 
result. 

PAYMENTS. If the bidder succeeds in winning the speci- 
fied number of tricks, each adversary pays him a counter for every 
trick bid. If he bid three tricks, they pay him three counters 
each ; four counters each for four tricks bid ; and the value of 
three tricks for a misere. If he fails to win the specified number 
of tricks, he pays each adversary ; three counters if he bid three 
tricks, or a misere ; four if he bid four. Any player bidding nap, 
and succeeding in winning all five tricks, receives ten counters 
from each adversary ; but if he fails, he pays only five to each. 

When penny nap is played, the settlement being in coin, it is 
usual to make naps win a shilling or lose sixpence, in order to 
avoid handling so much copper. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD PLAY. In calculating 
his chances for success in winning a certain number of tricks, the 
player will often have to take into consideration the probability of 
certain cards being out against him. This will vary according to 
the number of players engaged. For instance : If four are play- 
ing, and the bidder holds K Q of a plain suit, the odds against the 
ace of that suit being out against him are about 2 to i. As it 
would be impossible for any person to remember all the jeux de 
regie for three tricks at Napoleon, each must learn from experi- 
ence the trick-taking value of certain hands. Trump strength is, 
of course, the great factor, and the bidder should count on finding 
at least two trumps in one hand against him. Nap should never 
be bid on a hand which is not pretty sure of winning two rounds 
of trumps, with all other cards but one winners. One trick may 
always be risked in a nap hand, such as A Q of trumps, or a King, 
or even a Queen or Jack in a plain suit ; the odds against the ad- 
versaries having a better card being slightly increased by the odds 
against their knowing enough to keep it for the last trick. 

If the bid is for three tricks only, tenaces, or guarded minor 
honours in plain suits should be preserved. After the first trick it 
will sometimes be advantageous for the player to get rid of any 
losing card he may have in plain suits. It is seldom right to con- 
tinue the trumps if the bidder held only two originally, unless he 
has winning cards in two plain suits, in which case it may be bet- 
ter to lead even a losing trump to prevent a possibility of adverse 
trumps making separately. 

In playing against the bidder, leave no trick to your partners 
that you can win yourself, unless a small card is led, and you 
have the ace. In opening fresh suits do not lead guarded hon- 
ours, but prefer aces or singletons. If the caller needs only one 
more trick, it is usually best to lead a trump. If you have three 
trumps, including the major tenace, pass the first trick if a small 



214 (Nap.) GOOD PLAT, 

trump is led ; or if you remain with the tenace after the first trick, 
be careful to avoid the lead. 

Discards should indicate weakness, unless you can show com- 
mand of such a suit as A K, or K Q, by discarding the best of it. 
This will direct your partners to let that suit go, and keep the 
others. It is usually better to keep a guarded King than a single 
ace. The player on the right of the bidder should get into the 
lead if possible, especially if he holds one or two winning cards. 
These will either give his partners discards, or allow them to over- 
trump the bidder. 

In playing miseres, it is better to begin with a singleton, or the 
lowest of a safe suit. An xe or King two or three times guarded 
is very safe for a misere, as it is very improbable that any player 
will be able to lead the suit more than twice ; and if the bidder's 
missing suit is led, the high card can be got rid of at once. 

In playing against a misere, discards are important, and the first 
should be from the shortest suit, and always the highest card of it. 
A suit in which the bidder is long should be continued, in order to 
give partners discards. More money is lost at Napoleon by play- 
ing imperfect miseres than in any other way. 

Variations. The foregoing description applies to the regu- 
lar four-handed game ; but there are several variations in common 
use. 

Better bids than " nap " are sometimes allowed, on the under- 
standing that the bidder will pay double or treble stakes if he fails, 
but will receive only the usual amount if successful. For instance : 
One player bids Nap, and another holds what he considers a cer- 
tainty for five tricks. In order not to lose such an opportunity the 
latter bids Wellington, which binds him to pay ten counters to 
each' player if he fails. Another may outbid this again by bidding 
JBlucher, which binds him to pay twenty to each if he loses, but 
to receive only ten if he wins. In England, the bidder, if success- 
ful, receives double or treble stakes for a Wellington or a Blucher, 
which is simply another way of allowing any person with a nap 
hand to increase the stakes at pleasure, for a player with a cer- 
tain five tricks would of course bid a Blucher at once, trebling 
his gains and shutting off all competition at the same time. This 
variation is not to be recommended, and benefits no one but the 
gambler. 

Pools, Napoleon is sometimes played with a pool, each player 
contributing a certain amount, usually two counters, on the first 
deal. Each dealer in turn adds. two more; revokes pay five, and 
leads out of turn three. The player who first succeeds in winning 
five tricks on a nap bid takes the pool, and a fresh one is formed. 
If a player bids nap and fails, he is usually called upon to double 
the amount then in the pool, besides paying his adversaries. 

Purchase Nap ; sometimes called ficartS Nap, is a varia- 
tion of the pool game. After the cards are dealt, and before any 



VARIETIES OF NAP. (Nap,) 215 

bids are made, each player in turn, beginning on the dealer's left, 
may discard as many cards as he pleases, the dealer giving him 
others in their place. For each card so exchanged, the player pays 
one counter to the pool. Only one round of exchanges is allowed, 
and bids are then in order. A player having once refused to buy, 
or having named the number of cards he wishes to exchange, can- 
not amend his decision. Any player winning five tricks on a nap 
bid takes the entire pool. This is a very good game, and increases 
both the bids and the play against them. 

Widows. Another variation is to deal five cards in the centre 
of the table, face downward, the dealer giving the cards to the 
widow just before helping himself in each round. Any player in 
his proper turn to bid may take the widow, and from the total of 
ten cards so obtained select five, on which he must bid nap, dis- 
carding the others face downward. 

Peep Nap. In this variety of the pool game one card only is 
dealt to the widow, usually on the first round. Each player in 
turn, before bidding or passing, has the privilege of taking a pri- 
vate peep at this down card, on paying one counter to the pool. 
The card is left on the table until the highest bidder is known, and 
he then takes it into his hand, whether he has paid to peep at it or 
not. He must then discard to reduce his hand to five cards. If a 
player bids nap it usually pays those following him to have a peep 
at the down card in case the bidder should retain it in his hand. 



SPOIL FIVE. 

Spoil Five is one of the oldest of card games, and is generally 
conceded to be the national game of Ireland. It is derived from 
the still older game of Maw, which was the favourite recreation of 
James the First. The connecting link seems to have been a game 
called Five Fingers, which is described in the " Compleat Game- 
ster," first published in 1674. The Five Fingers was the five of 
trumps, and also the best, the ace of hearts coming next. In Spoil 
Five, the Jack of trumps comes between these two. 

CARDS. Spoil Five is played with a full pack of fifty-two 
cards. The rank of the cards varies according to the colour of the 
suit, and the trump suit undergoes still further changes, the heart 
ace being always the third best trump. In the plain suits, the 
K Q J retain their usual order, the King being the best. The rank 
of the spot cards, including the aces of diamonds, clubs, and 
spades, is generally expressed by the phrase : Highest in red ; 
lowest in black. That is to say, if several cards of a suit, not 
including a King, Queen or Jack, are played to a trick, the highest 
card will win if the suit is red ; and the lowest if the suit is black. 



216 (Spoil Five.) BANK OF THE CARDS. 



This will give us the following order for the plain suits, beginning" 
with the highest card in each : — 





No change 








Highest in red. 









K Q 
K Q 


) 


IO 
IO 


9 
9 


876543 
876543 

Lowest in black. 


2 
2 


A 


* 


K Q 

K Q 


J 
J 


A 

A 


2 
2 


3 4 5 6 7 8 
345678 


9 
9 


10 
10 



In the trump suit the same order of cards is retained, except 
that four cards are always the best trumps. These are the Five, 
Jack, and ace of the suit itself, and the ace of hearts, the latter be- 
ing always the third best. This gives us the rank of the cards as 
follows, when the suit is trump : — 





No change, 


Highest in red. 


5 J 
5 J 


V A 


V A K Q 
A K Q 


10 98765432 
10 98765432 

Lowest in black. 


* 5 J 

♦ 5 J 


V A 

V A 


* A K Q 

♦ A K Q 


2 3456789 10 
234 5 6 7 8 9 10 



COUNTERS. Spoil Five is played with a pool, for which 
counters are necessary. One player should act as banker, and the 
others should purchase from him, each beginning with 20 counters. 
Coins may take the place of counters, shillings being the usual 
points. 

FLAYERS. Any number from 2 to 10 may play ; but 5 or 6 
is the usual game. 

CUTTING. This is unknown at Spoil Five. The players 
take their seats at random, and one of them deals a card face up 
to each in succession. The first Jack takes the first deal. Some 
note should be made of the player who gets the first deal, as the 
rules require that when the game is brought to an er*d the last 
deal shall be made by the player on the right of the first dealer. 

THE POOL. Before play begins each player deposits one 
counter in the pool, and to this amount eacn successive dealer 
adds a counter until the pool is won, when all contribute equally 
to form a new one. In some places it is the practice for each suc- 
cessive dealer to put up for all the players, whether the pool is won 
or not. This simply makes larger pools. 

DEALING. Any player has the right to shuffle the pack, 
the dealer last. The cards are then presented to the pone to be j 



DEALING. (Spoil Five.) 217 

cut, and as many cards as there are players must be left in each 
packet. Beginning on his left, the dealer gives five cards to each 
player ; two on the first round and three on the next, or three and 
then two. After all are helped, the next card is turned up on the 
remainder of the pack, and the suit to which it belongs is the 
trump for that deal. 

MISDEALING. If there is any irregularity in the deal 
which is not the dealer's fault, such as any card except the trump 
found faced in the pack, or the pack found imperfect, the same per- 
son deals again. But if the dealer neglects to have the pack cut, 
or deals too many or too few cards to any player, or exposes a 
card in dealing, or does not give the same number of cards to 
each player on the same round, or counts the cards on the table 
or those remaining in the pack, it is a misdeal, and the deal passes 
to the next player on the misdealer's left. In some places the mis- 
dealer is allowed to deal again if he forfeits two counters to the 
pool. 

ROBBING THE TRUMP CABD. If the trump card 
is an ace, the dealer may discard any card he pleases in exchange 
for it. He may take up the ace when he plays to the first trick, 
or may leave it on the pack until got rid of in the course of play. 
When an ace is turned, the eldest hand, before leading, should 
call upon the dealer to discard if he has not already done so. If 
the dealer does not want the trump, he answers : " I play these." 

If the trump card is not an ace, any player at the table holding 
the ace of trumps is bound to announce the fact when it comes 
to his turn to play to the first trick. The usual plan is for him to 
pass a card to the dealer face downward, and in return the dealer 
will give him the turn-up trump. If the holder of the ace does 
not want the turn-up, he must tell the dealer to turn the trump 
down, which shows that he could rob, but does not wish to. If 
the holder of the ace of trumps plays without announcing it, he 
not only loses his right to rob, but his ace of trumps becomes of 
less value than any other trump for that deal, and even if it is the 
ace of hearts he loses the privileges attached to that card. 

METHOD OF PLAYING. The eldest hand begins by 
leading any card he pleases. It is not necessary to follow suit ex- 
cept in trumps ; but if a player does not follow suit when he is able 
to do so, he must trump the trick, or it is a revoke. If he cannot 
follow suit, he may trump or discard at his pleasure. The highest 
card played of the suit led wins the trick, and trumps win all other 
suits. The winner of the first trick leads any card he pleases for 
•the next, and so on, until all five tricks have been played. Each 
player gathers his own tricks, as there are no partnerships. 

BENEGING. The three highest trumps have special privi- 
leges in the matter of not following suit. Any player holding the 
Five or Jack of the trump suit ; or the ace of hearts, but having 



218 (Spoil Five.) RENEGING. 

no smaller trump with them, may refuse to follow suit if any in- 
ferior trump is led ; but if he has also a smaller trump, he must 
play one or the other. If a superior trump is led, the player must 
follow suit in any case. For instance : If the Five of trumps is 
led, no one can refuse to follow suit, no matter what trumps he 
holds ; but if the Jack is led, and any player holds the Five alone, 
he need not play it to the inferior trump lead. If the heart ace is 
led, and one player holds the Jack alone, and another the Five 
alone, neither of these cards need be played, because the trump 
led is inferior to both of them. If a superior trump is played in 
following suit, such as the Five played on an Eight led, the holder 
of the lone Jack of trumps or ace of hearts, need not play it, be- 
cause the lead was inferior. This privilege of reneging is confined 
to the three highest trumps. 

OBJECTS OF THE GAME. In Spoil Five there are 
three things to play for. If any one person can win . three tricks 
he takes the pool. If he can win all five tricks he not only gets 
the pool, but receives an extra counter from each of the other 
players. If he has no chance to win three tricks, he must bend 
all his energies to scattering the tricks amOng the other players, so 
that no one of them shall be able to get the three tricks necessary 
to win the pool. When this is done, the game is said to be 
spoiled, and as that is the object of the majority in every deal 
it gives the game its name. In the older forms of the game the 
winner of three tricks counted five points, and if he could be pre- 
vented from getting three tracks his five points were spoiled. 

JINK GAME. When a player has won three tricks, he 
should immediately abandon his hand and claim the pool, for if he 
continues playing he must jink it, and get all five tricks or lose 
what he has already won, the game being spoiled just as if no one 
had won three tricks. It is sometimes a matter for nice judgment 
whether or not to go on, and, for the sake of an extra counter 
from each player, to risk a pool already won. The best trump is 
often held up for three rounds to coax a player to go on in this 
manner. 

IRREGULARITIES IN THE HANDS. If, during 
the play of a hand, it is discovered that any one holds too many 
or too few cards, that hand is foul, and must be abandoned, the 
holder forfeiting all right to the pool for that deal. Those who 
have their right number of cards finish the play without the foul 
hand, but any tricks already won by the holder of the foul hand 
remain his property. 

IRREGULARITIES IN PLAY. If any player robs 
when he does* not hold the ace ; leads or plays out of turn ; 
reneges to the lead of a higher trump ; renounces in the trump 
suit ; revokes in a plain suit ; or exposes a card after any player 
has won two tricks, he loses all his right and interest in the cur- 



GOOD PLAY. (Spoil Five.) 219 

rent pool, which he cannot win, either on that or any subsequent 
deal, but to which he must continue to contribute when it comes 
to his turn to deal. After the pool has been won, and a fresh one 
formed, the penalty is removed. 

SUGGESTIONS FOB GOOD PLAY. Observation, 
quickness, and good judgment of character are the essentials for 
success at Spoil Five, the last being probably the most important. 
The peculiar order of the cards ; the privilege of renouncing when 
holding a card of the suit led ; and the right of passing inferior 
trump leads, are very confusing to the beginner ; but with practice 
the routine and strategy of the game soon become familiar. 

The player should first make up his mind whether he is going to 
try to win the pool or to spoil it. Particular attention should be 
paid to the player who robs, because he must have at least the ace 
and the turn-up in trumps, and is more likely to need spoiling than 
any other player. When a player wins a trick, some judgment 
will be necessary to decide whether he is trying for the pool him- 
self, or simply spoiling it for some one else. When he wins two 
tricks, every other player at the table must combine against him. 

With only one small or medium trump, it is better to use it at 
the first opportunity. Unless the player has some hopes of win- 
ning the pool himself, he should trump all doubtful cards ; that is, 
cards that may win the trick if not trumped. With two good 
trumps, it is better to wait for developments ; even if you cannot 
win the last three tricks yourself, you may effectually spoil any 
other player. Do anything you can to prevent the possibility of a 
third trick being won by a player who has already won two. 



FORTY-FIVE, OR FIVE AND TEN. 

These names are given to Spoil Five when it is played by two 
persons only, or by four or six divided into two equal partnerships. 
There is no pool, as one side or the other must win three tricks 
every deal. The side winning the odd trick counts five points 
towards game, or ten points if it wins all five tricks. Forty-five 
points is game. In another variation, each trick counts five points, 
and the winners' score is deducted from the losers', so that if one 
side wins four tricks it counts fifteen towards game. When this 
manner of counting is adopted, the players count out ; that is, if 
each side is 35 up, the first to win two tricks counts out. 

Minor variations are sometimes introduced ; such as robbing 
with the King, if the ace is not in play ; counting five for the 
dealer's side if the ace or King is turned up, etc. 

There are no Text Books on Spoil Five ; but desci^ptions and 
laws of the game are to be found in the " Westminster Papers," 
Vol II., and in " Round Games," by Berkeley. 



220 (Rams,) 

RAMS, 

OR RAMMES 

This game seems to be the connecting link between the more 
strongly marked members of the Euchre family and Division Loo. 

CARDS* Rams is played with the euchre pack, thirty-two 
cards, which rank as at Ecarte, KQJ A 10987. It has lately 
become the fashion, however, to adopt the rank of the cards in 
the piquet pack, A K Q J 10 9 8 7. 

PLAYERS, Any number from three to six may play; but 
when six play the dealer takes no cards. The general arrange- 
ments for the players, first deal, counters, etc., are exactly the 
same as at Spoil Five. 

THE POOL. Each successive dealer puts up five counters, 
to form or to augment the pool. 

DEALING. The cards having been properly shuffled and 
cut, five are given to each player ; two the first round and three 
the next, or three the first round and two the next. An extra 
hand, known as the widow, is dealt face downward in the centre 
of the table. The dealer gives cards to the widow just before 
dealing to himself in each round. When all are helped, the next 
card is turned up for the trump. Irregularities in the deal are 
governed by the same rules as in Spoil Five. 

DECLARING TO PLAY. Each player in turn, begin- 
ning with the eldest hand, may either play or pass. If he passes, 
he lays his cards face downward in front of him, and takes no 
further part in that deal unless a general rams is announced. If 
he plays, he engages himself to take at least one trick, or forfeit 
five counters to the pool. He may play with the hand originally 
dealt him, or he may risk getting a better by taking the widow in 
exchange. If he exchanges, his original hand is dead, and must 
not be seen by any player. If any player takes the widow, those 
following him must play the hand dealt them or pass out. In 
some clubs the eldest hand is obliged to play, either with his own 
hand or with the widow. 

If all pass except the pone, he must play against the dealer, 
either with the cards dealt him, or with the widow. If he de- 
clines to play, he must pay the dealer five counters, and the pool 
remains. The dealer must play if he is opposed by only one 
player ; but if two others have announced to play, the dealer may 
play or pass as he pleases. If he plays, he may discard and take 
up the trump card. No other player may rob the trump. 

METHOD OF PLAYING. The eldest hand of those 
who have declared to play begins by leading any card he pleases. 
Each player in turn must head the trick; that is, play a higher 
card if he caa. If he has two higher, he may play either. If he 



BAMS. (Rams.) 221 

has none of the suit led, he must trump if he can, even if the trick 
is already trumped by another player. For instance : Hearts are 
trumps, and A leads a club. B follows suit, but neither C nor D 
has a club. Suppose C trumps with the King, and that the only 
trump D has is the Queen, he must play it on the trick, losing it to 
C's King. When a player can neither follow suit nor trump, he 
may discard any card he pleases. The winner of the trick leads 
for the next trick, and so on until all five tricks have been played. 

PENALTIES, There is only one penalty in Rams ; to win 
nothing on the deal, and to forfeit five counters to the next pool. 
This is inflicted for playing with more or less than five cards ; for 
exposing any card ; for leading or playing out of turn ; for renounc- 
ing ; and for refusing to head or trump a trick when able to do so. 

DIVIDING THE POOL. Pools may be simple or 
double. The usual custom is to compel every one to play when 
the pool is a simple, containing nothing but the five counters put 
up by the dealer. When there are more than five counters in the 
pool they must be some multiple of five, and the pool is called a 
double. In double pools the players may play or pass as they 
please. No matter how many counters are already in the pool, 
the dealer must add five. 

Each player gathers in the tricks he wins, and at the end of the 
hand he is entitled to take one-fifth of the contents of the pool for 
every trick he has won. If he has played his hand, and failed to 
get a trick, he is ramsed, and forfeits five counters to form the 
next pool, in addition to those which will be put up by the next 
dealer. If two or more players fail to win a trick, they must each 
pay five counters, and if .the player whose turn it will be to deal 
next is ramsed, he will have to put up ten ; five for his deal, and 
five for the rams. 

GENERAL RAMS. If any player thinks he can win all 
five tricks, with the advantage of the first lead, he may announce 
a general rams, when it comes to his turn to pass or play. This 
announcement may be made either before or after taking the 
widow. When a general rams is announced, all at the table must 
play, and those who have passed and laid down their hands, must 
take them up again. If the widow has not been taken, any player 
who has not already refused it may take it. The player who an- 
nounced general rams has the first lead. If he succeeds in get- 
ting all five tricks, he not only gets the pool but receives five 
counters in addition from each player. If he fails, he must double 
the amount then in the pool, and pay five counters to each of his 
adversaries. Any player taking a trick that spoils a general rams 
gets nothing from the pool, and it is usual to abandon the hands 
the moment the announcing player loses a trick. 



ROUNCE. 

This is an American corruption of Rams. It is played with the 
full pack of fifty-two cards, which rank as at Whist, and any 
number of players from three to nine. Six cards are dealt to 
the widow, one of which must be discarded by the player taking 
it. All pools are alike, there being no difference between simples 
and doubles, and there is no such announcement as general rounce. 
There is no obligation to head the trick, nor to trump -or under- 
trump ; but the winner of the first trick must lead a trump if he 
has one. 



BIERSPIEL. 

This is a popular form of Rams among German students. 
Three crosses are chalked on the table in front of each player, 
representing five points each. When a trick is won, a beer-soaked 
finger wipes out the centre of a cross, and reduces its value to 
four. Successive cance lings of the remaining arms of the cross as 
tricks are taken gradually reduce it to nothing, and the player who 
is last to wipe out his third cross pays for the beer. No player is 
allowed to look at his cards until the trump is turned, and the 
dealer gives the word of command : " Auf." The seven of 
diamonds is always the second-best card of the trump suit, rank- 
ing next below the ace. If it is turned up, the dealer turns up the 
next card for a trump, and when it comes to his turn, he can take 
both cards into his hand, discarding others in their place. If the 
dealer passes, the eldest hand may take up the trump. If only 
two declare to play, a trump must be led for the first trick ; if 
three play, trumps must be led twice ; if four play, three times. If 
the leader has no trump, he must lead his smallest card, face 
downward, which calls for a trump from such of the other players 
as have one. All penalties are made by adding fresh crosses 
to the delinquent's score. 

LOO, 

OR DIVISION LOO. 

This was at one time the most popular of all round games at 
cards ; but its cousin Napoleon seems to have usurped its place in 
England, while Poker has eclipsed it in America. There are sev- 
eral varieties of the game, but the most common form is Three- 
card Limited Loo, which will be first described. 

CARDS, Loo is played with a full pack of fifty-two cards, 
which rank, A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 ; the ace being the highest. 

COUNTERS, Loo being a pool game, counters are neces- 
sary. They should be of two colours, white and red, one red 
being worth three whites. The object of this is to provide for an 
equal division of the pool at all times. One person should act as 



LOO. (Loo.) 223 

banker, to sell and redeem all counters. Each player should be- 
gin with 1 8 red and 6 white, which is equal to 20 reds. 

PLAYERS. Any number of persons from three to seven- 
teen may play, but eight is the usual limit, and five or six makes 
the best game. The players take their seats at random. 
. CUTTING. A card is dealt round to each player, face up, 
and the first Jack takes the first deal. 

THE POOL. Each successive dealer places three red 
counters in the pool. The pool is added to from time to time by 
penalties for infractions of the rules, and by forfeitures from 
players who have failed in their undertakings. Such payments 
are always made in red counters, the number being always three 
or six. When the pool is divided, it sometimes happens that a 
player is not allowed to withdraw his share. In such cases the 
red counters representing it should be changed for their value in 
white ones, so that the forfeited share may be divided in three 
parts. 

The difference between Limited Loo, and Unlimited Loo, 
is in the amounts paid into the pool. In Limited Loo the penalty 
is always three or six red counters. In Unlimited Loo, it is the 
same for irregularities, and for infraction of the rules ; but any 
player failing in his undertaking must put up for the next pool an 
amount equal to that in the current pool. When two or more 
fail on successive deals the pool increases with surprising rapidity. 
A player at twenty-five cent Loo has been known to lose $320 in 
three consecutive deals. 

DEALING* The pack having been properly shuffled and 
cut, the dealer gives three cards to each player, one at a time in 
rotation, beginning on his left. The first deal, and every deal in 
which the pool contains only the three red counters put up by the 
dealer, is known as a simple, and no trump card is turned up 
until one or two tricks have been played to. If there are more 
than three red counters in the pool, it is known as a double, and 
an extra hand must be dealt for the widow, and after all have been 
helped, the next card in the pack is turned up for a trump. The 
dealer gives cards to the widow just before helping himself in each 
round. 

Irregularities in the Deal. If the pack is found to be im- 
perfect, or any card except the trump is found faced in the pack, 
the same dealer must deal again without penalty. If the dealer 
neglects to have the pack cut ; re-shuffles it after it has been 
properly cut; deals a card incorrectly and fails to correct the 
error before dealing another ; exposes a card in dealing ; gives 
any player too many or too few cards* or deals a wrong number 
of hands, it is a misdeal, and he loses his deal, and forfeits three 
red counters to the current pool. The new dealer adds his three , 
counters as usual, and the pool becomes a double. 



224 (Loo,) METHOD OF PLAYING. 

METHOD OF FLAYING. A description of the method 
of playing will be better understood if it is divided into two parts, 
as it varies in simple and in double pools. 

In Simple Fools, no trump is turned, and no widow dealt. 
Should the dealer inadvertently turn a trump, he forfeits three red 
counters to the current pool, but it remains a simple. If he deals 
a card for a widow, and fails to correct himself before dealing 
another card, it is a misdeal. 

The eldest hand leads any card he pleases, and the others must 
not only follow suit, but must head the trick if they can. This 
does not necessarily mean that they shall play the best card they 
hold of the suit led, but that they shall play a better one than any 
already played. The cards are left in front of the players. If all 
follow suit the winner of the trick leads any card he pleases for 
the next trick. If all follow suit to that again, the winner leads 
for the next, and if all follow suit again, that ends it, and the 
winners of the several tricks divide the pool. All those who have 
not won a trick are looed, and must contribute three red counters 
each for the next pool, which, added to the three to be deposited 
by the next dealer, will make the ensuing pool a double. But if 
in any trick any player is unable to follow suit, as soon as the 
trick is complete the dealer turns up the top card on the remain- 
der of the pack, and the suit to which it belongs is the trump. If 
any trump has been played, the highest trump wins the trick. In 
any case, the winner of the trick must leada trump for the next trick 
if he has one. When all three tricks have been played, the winner 
of each is entitled to one-third of the contents of the pool. Those 
who have not won a trick are looed, and must contribute three 
red counters each for (the next pool. This is called a Fold Stand. 

In Double Fools, an extra hand is dealt for the widow, and a 
trump is turned. No player is allowed to look at his cards until 
it comes to his turn to declare. The dealer, beginning on his left, 
asks each in turn to announce his intentions. The player may 
stand with the cards dealt him ; or may take the widow in 
exchange ; or may pass. If he passes or takes the widow, he 
gives his original hand to the dealer, who places it on the bottom 
of the pack. If he takes the widow or stands, he must win at 
least one trick, or he is looed, and will forfeit three red counters to 
the next pool. 

If all pass but the player who has taken the widow, he wins the 
pool without playing, and the next deal must be a simple. If only 
one player stands, and he has not taken the widow, the dealer, 
if he will not play for himself, must take the widow and play to 
defend the pool. If he fails to take a trick, he is not looed ; but 
the payment for any tricks he wins must be left in the pool, and 
the red counters for them should be changed for white ones, so 
that the amount may be easily divided at the end of the next pool. 



IRREGULARITIES. (Loo.) 225 

Flushes. If any player in a double pool holds three trumps, 
whether dealt him or found in the widow, he must announce it 
as soon as all have declared whether or not they will play. The 
usual custom is to wait until the dealer declares, and then to ask 
him: "How many play?" The dealer replies: "Two in;" 
" Three in : " or : " Widow and one ; " as the case may be. The 
player with the flush then shows it, and claims the pool without 
playing, each of those who are " in " being looed three red 
counters. If two players hold a flush in trumps, the elder hand 
wins, whether his trumps are better or not ; but the younger hand, 
holding another flush, is not looed. 

Leading. In all double pools, the eldest hand of those play- 
ing must lead a trump if he has one. If he has the ace of trumps 
he must lead that ; or if he has the King and the ace is turned up. 
The old rule was that a player must lead the higher of two trumps, 
but this is obsolete. The winner of a trick must lead a trump if 
he has one. Each player in turn must head the trick if he can ; if 
he has none of the suit led he must trump or over-trump if he can ; 
but he need not under-trump a trick already trumped. 

Irregularities and Penalties. There is only one penalty 
in Loo, to win nothing from the current pool, and to pay either 
three or six reds to the next pool. If the offender has won any 
tricks, the payment for them must be left in the pool in white 
counters, to be divided among the winners of the next pool. 

The offences are divided, some being paid for to the current 
pool, such as those for errors in the deal, while others are not paid 
until the current pool has been divided. If any player looks at 
his hand before his turn to declare, or the dealer does so before 
asking the others whether or not they will play, or if any player 
announces his intention out of his proper turn ; the offender in each 
case forfeits three red counters to the current pool, and cannot win 
anything that deal, but he may play his hand in order to keep 
counters in the pool. If he plays and is looed, he must pay. 

Revokes. If a player, when able to do so, fails to follow suit, 
or to head the trick, or to lead trumps, or to lead the ace of 
trumps, (or King when ace is turned,) or to trump a suit of which 
he is void, the hands are abandoned on discovery of the error, 
and the pool is divided as equally as possible among those who 
declared to play, with the exception of the offender. Any odd 
white counters must be left for the next pool. The player in fault 
is then held guilty of a revoke, and must pay a forfeit of six red 
counters to the next pool. The reason for the division of the pool 
is that there is no satisfactory way to determine how the play 
would have resulted had the revoke not occurred. It is impossible 
to take back the cards and replay them, because no one would 
have a right to judge how much a person's play was altered by his 
knowledge of the cards in the other hands. 

If a player, having already won a trick, renders himself liable to 



226 (Loo.) IRISH LOO. 

any penalty, as for exposing a card, leading or following suit out 
of turn, or abandoning his hand, he is looed for three red counters, 
payable to the next pool, and the payment for the tricks he has 
won must be left in the pool in white counters. 



IRISH LOO. 

In this variation, no widow is dealt, and there is no distinction 
between simple and double pools. A trump is always turned up, 
and the dealer asks each in turn, beginning on his left, whether or 
not he will play, taking up the cards of those who decline to 
stand. He then announces his own decision, and proceeds to ask 
those who have declared to play whether or not they wish to 
exchange any of the cards originally dealt them. The usual ques- 
tion is simply : " How many ? " and the player names the number 
of cards he wishes to exchange, if any ; at the same time discard- 
ing others in their places. The number first asked for cannot be 
amended or recalled. The trump is laid aside, and the cards 
called for are dealt from the remainder of the pack, without further 
shuffling. In all other respects, the game is Three-card Loo. 



FIVE-CARD LOO. 

This is Irish Loo with some additional variations. Each red 
counter should be worth five white ones, and the players will 
require about fifty red counters each at starting. The dealer puts 
up five red counters. Any player holding a flush of five cards in 
any suit may immediately claim the pool, and every person at the 
table, whether playing or not, is supposed to be looed, and pays 
five red counters to the next pool. If two players hold flushes, 
the elder hand wins, even if the younger hand holds a flush in 
trumps. 

Another variation is to make the club Jack, which is known as 
Pam, always the best trump. Combined with four cards of any 
suit, this card will make a flush. If any player leads the trump 
ace, the holder of Pam must pass the trick if he can do so without 
revoking. The old usage was for the holder of the trump ace to 
notify any player holding Pam to pass, if he wished him to do so ; 
but that is quite superfluous, as no player wants to lose his ace of 
trumps, and it goes without saying that he wants Pam to pass it. 



Interesting articles on Loo will be found in "Bell's Life," the 
" Field," the " Sportsman," and the " Westminster Papers ; " 
Vol. II. of the latter especially. 



(All Fours.) 227 



ALL FOURS FAMILY. 



AH Fours is to be found amongst the oldest games of cards, 
and is the parent of a large family of variations, all of which are 
of American birth. The youngest member of the family, Cinch, 
seems to have a bright future before it, and bids fair to become one 
of our most popular games. The chief defect in Cinch has been 
the method of scoring, which left too much to luck. In the follow- 
• ing pages the author has attempted to remedy this. 

The name, " All Fours," seems to have been varied at 
times to " All Four," and was derived from four of the five points 
which counted towards game ; the fifth point, for " gift " having 
been apparently quite overlooked. The game was originally ten 
points up, and the cards were dealt one at a time. According to 
the descriptions in some of the older Hoyles, the honours and Tens 
of the plain suits did not count towards game ; but this is evidently 
an error, for we find in the same editions the advice to trump or 
win the adversary's best cards in plain suits. This would obviously 
be a'mere waste of trumps if these plain-suit cards did not count for 
anything. 

All Fours seems to have been popular with all classes of society 
at one time or another. Cotton's " Compleat Gamester " gives it 
among the principal games in his day, 1674. Dairies Barrington, 
writing a hundred years later, speaks of All Fours in connection 
with Whist. " Whist," he says, " seems never to have been played 
on principles until about fifty years ago ; before that time [1735] it 
was confined chiefly to the servants' hall, with All Fours and Put." 
Another writer tells us that Ombre was the favourite game of the 
ladies, and Piquet of the gentlemen par excellence ; clergymen. 
and country squires preferring Whist, " while the lower orders 
shuffled away at All Fours, Put, Cribbage, and Lanterloo." In 
1754a pamphlet was published containing: " Serious Reflections 
on the dangerous tendency of the common practice of Card-playing ; 
especially the game of All Four." For many years All Fours was 
looked upon as the American gambler's game par excellence, and 
it is still the great standby of our coloured brother ; who would 
sooner swallow a Jack than have it caught. 



228 (Seven Up,) 

ALL FOURS, 

SEVEN-UP, OR OLD SLEDGE. 

OARDS. Seven-up is played with the full pack of fifty-two 
cards, which rank AKQJ 1098765432; the ace being the 
highest, both in cutting and in play. 

CO JJNTERS. Each player or side should be provided with 
seven counters. As the points accrue, these counters are got rid 
of by placing them in a pool in the centre of the table. By this 
method a glance will show how many each side or player has " to 
go," that is, how many will put him out. 

PLAYERS. Two, three or four persons may play. When 
three play, the game resembles Cut-throat Euchre, each for him- 
self. When four play, two are partners against the other two, and 
the partners sit opposite each other. The player on the dealer's 
left, or his adversary if only two play, is always spoken of as the 
eldest or elder hand. The one on the dealer's right is the pone. 

CUTTING, If there are four players, they cut for partners, 
deal, and choice of seats. The two lowest are partners against 
the two highest ; the highest cut has the choice of seats, and deals 
the first hand. When two or three play, they cut for seats and 
deal. In cutting, the ace is high. Ties cut again ; but the new 
cut decides nothing but the tie. 

STAKES. If there is any stake, it is for so much a game. 
Rubbers are never played. 

DEALING. Each player has the right to shuffle the pack, 
the dealer last, and the cards are then presented to the pone to be 
cut. At least four cards must be left in each packet. Beginning 
on his left, the dealer gives six cards to each player, three on the 
first round, and three more on the second round, turning up the 
next card for the trump, and leaving it on the remainder of the 
pack. If this card is a Jack, the dealer counts one point for it 
immediately ; but if any player is found to have an incorrect 
number of cards, and announces it before he plays to the first trick, 
the Jack cannot be counted, as it could not have been the proper 
trump. 

In Pitch, or Blimd All Fours, no trump is turned. The 
first card led or " pitched " by the eldest hand is the trump suit 
for that deal. 

MISDEALING. If any card is found faced in the pack, or 
the pack is proved to be imperfect, the same dealer deals again. 
If he deals without having the cards cut, or gives too many or too 



BEGGING. (Seven Up.) 229 

few cards to any player, it is a misdeal, and the deal passes to 
the next player on the misdealer's left. If the dealer exposes a 
card, the adversaries may elect to have the deal stand, or to have a 
new deal by the same dealer. In Pitch, a misdeal does not lose 
the deal, because the deal is no advantage. 

BEGGING. The deal completed, and the trump turned, the 
eldest hand looks at his cards, the other players leaving theirs un- 
touched. If the eldest hand is not satisfied, he says : I beg ; and 
the dealer, after examining his own hand, has the option of giving 
him a point or running the cards. If he decides to give the 
point, he says : Take it, and the eldest hand immediately scores 
one for the gift. If the dealer will not give, he lays the trump 
card aside, and deals three more cards to each player, including 
himself ; turning up another trump. Should this be a Jack of 
another suit, the dealer scores a point for it at once. Should it be 
of the same suit as that first turned up, the Jack cannot be scored, 
as the dealer has declined to have that suit for the trump. When 
the same suit is turned up a second time, the card is laid aside ; 
three more cards are given to each player, another trump is turned, 
and so on until a different suit comes up for the trump. If the 
pack is exhausted before another suit turns up, the cards must be 
bunched, and the same dealer deals again. 

The dealer's partner and the pone are not permitted to look at 
their cards until the eldest hand and the dealer have decided 
whether to stand or run the cards. Among strict players, if a 
person looks at his hand before the proper timejthe adversaries 
score a point. The object of this rule is to prevent the possibility 
of any expression of satisfaction or disapproval of the turn-up 
trump. 

No second beg is allowed, but when only two play, if either 
player is dissatisfied with the new trump he may propose to 
bunch the cards. If the proposition is agreed to, the cards are 
re-shuffled and dealt again by the same dealer. If three play, the 
dealer must give a point to both adversaries if he refuses to run 
the cards, although only one begs. The dealer cannot give a 
player enough to put him out. 

DISCARDING. When the cards have been run, the usual 
practice is to discard all superfluous cards, each player reducing 
his hand to six, with which he plays. In some clubs it is the rule 
to keep all the cards if only nine are in each hand, but to discard 
down to six if two or more rounds were dealt after turning the 
first trump. 

OBJECTS OF THE GAME. The object in Seven-up is 
to secure certain points which count towards game. As its name 
implies, the game is won when a player has put up seven of his 
counters, each of which represents a point. There are six differ- 
ent ways of making these points, and it is possible for one playef 



230 (Seven Up.) POINTS THAT COUNT. 

to make five of them in one deal ; but he cannot by any possibil- 
ity make seven. The following count one point each : 

i st. Turning up the Jack of trumps. 

2nd. Being given a point by the dealer. 

3rd. Holding the Highest trump. 

4th. Holding the Lowest trump. 

5th. Winning a trick with the Jack of trumps in it. 

6th. Making the majority of the pips that count for what is 
called Game. 

Turning the Jack is entirely a matter of chance, and should 
not occur more than once in thirteen deals. If a Jack is turned 
every few deals, you may be sure that unfair methods are being 
used. Nothing is more common among advantage players than 
turning up Jacks every few deals. 

Begging is resorted to by a player who holds no trumps, or 
such indifferent ones that it is very unlikely they will be either 
High or Low. If he has anything better, such as very high or 
low cards in other suits, such a hand is called, " a good hand to 
run to," and the player begs, hoping the new trump will better fit 
his hand. If he has nothing better in other suits than in the turn- 
up, it will still be slightly in his favour to beg, unless he has trumps 
enough to give him some hopes of making the point for Game. _ It 
is a fatal error to beg on good cards, and gamblers have a saying 
that he who begs a point to-day, will beg a stake to-morrow. 

High and Low count to the player to whom those cards are 
dealt, and there is no chance to alter the fortunes of the deal ex- 
cept by begging and running the cards. These two points may 
' both be made by the same card, if it is the only trump in play ; 
because High is counted for the best trump out during the deal, 
and Low for the lowest, no matter what the cards are. 

Catching the Jack 9 or saving it, is one of the principal ob- 
jects of the game, and as a rule a player holding the Jack should 
lose no opportunity to save such a valuable counting card. On 
the other hand, a player holding higher trumps will often have to 
use good judgment as to whether to lead them to catch the Jack, 
if it happens to be out ; or to keep quiet until the last few tricks, 
when if the Jack is not out, such trumps may be useful to win 
cards that count for Game. 

The Game is generally known as the gambler's point, be- 
cause it is the only point that must be played for in every hand, 
and its management requires more skill than all the others put to- 
gether. The cards that count for Game are the four honours and 
the Ten of each suit. Every ace counts 4 ; every King 3 ; every 
Queen 2 ; every Jack 1 ; and every Ten 10. After the last card has 
been played, each player turns over the tricks he has won, and 
counts up the pip value of the court cards and Tens that he has 



METHOD OF PL A T. (Seven Up.) 231 

won. Whoever has the highest number counts the point for Game. 
For instance : Two are playing. The elder hand has taken in an 
ace, two Kings and a Jack, which are collectively worth n. The 
dealer has taken in a Queen and a Ten, which are worth 12 ; so the 
dealer marks the point for Game. If both players have the same 
number, or if there is no Game out, which rarely happens, the non- 
dealer scores Game. If three play, and Game is a tie between the 
two non-dealers, neither scores. The non-dealer is given the 
benefit of counting a tie for Game as an offset to the dealer's ad- 
vantage in turning Jacks. When no trump is turned, as in Pitch, 
no one can count Game if it is a tie. 

METHOD OF FLAYING. The eldest hand begins by 
leading any card he pleases. If a trump is led, each player must 
follow suit if able. When a plain suit is led he need not follow 
suit if he prefers to trump ; but if he does not trump, he must fol- 
low suit if he can. If he has none of the suit led he may either 
tsump or discard. This rule is commonly expressed by saying that 
a player may follow suit or trump. The highest card played 
of the suit led wins the trick, and trumps win all other suits. The 
winner of the trick takes it in, and leads for the next one, and so 
on until all the cards have been played. The tricks themselves 
have no value except for the court cards and Tens they contain. 

As High, Jack, and Game are always counted by the player hold- 
ing those points at the end of the play, there can be no question 
about them : but serious disputes sometimes arise as to who played 
Low. The best method of avoiding this is for each player, as the 
game proceeds, to announce and claim the lowest trump which 
has so far appeared, and instead of giving it to the current trick, 
to leave it turned face up in front of him if it is of no counting 
value. For instance : Four are playing, and a round of trumps 
comes out, the six being the lowest. The player holding it an- 
nounces : " Six for Low," and keeps the card face up in front of 
him until some smaller trump appears. It often happens that a 
player holds a 7 or 8, and having no idea that it will be Low, takes 
no notice of it. At the end of the hand it is found that both the 
7 and 8 are out, the 7 being Low, and the holders of those two 
cards get into an argument as to which card each of them held. 

SCORING. The last card played, the various points for High, 
Low, Jack, (if in play), and the Game are claimed, and the player or 
side holding them puts a counter in the pool for each. The side 
first getting rid of its seven counters wins the game. If both sides 
make points enough to win the game on the same deal, High goes 
out first, then Low, then Jack, and then Game. As already noticed, 
one card maybe both High. and Low; the Jack may be High, Low, 
Jack ; and it is even possible, if there is no other trump or count- 
ing card in play, for the Jack to be High, Low, Jack, and the 
Game. 



282 (Auction Pitch.) SEVEN-UP. 



CALIFORNIA JACK. 

This is a variety of Seven-up for two players, in which the 
number of cards in the hand is constantly restored to six by draw- 
ing' from the remainder of the pack. 

The trump suit is cut for before the cards are shuffled and dealt. 
The usual method is to cut for seats and deal, and the highest cut 
determines the trump suit at the same time, After each player 
has been given six cards, three at a time, the remainder of the pack 
is turned face up on the table, and the winner of each trick takes 
the top card, his adversary taking the next one. When the stock is 
exhausted, the last six cards are played as in the ordinary game 
of Seven-up. 

Seven points is game, the points being the same as in Seven-up ; 
but everything, including Low, counts to the player winning it. 

Shasta Sam is California Jack with the remainder of the pack 
turned face down, and is a much better game on that account. 



AUCTION PITCH, 

SELL OUT, OR COMMERCIAL PITCH. 

This very popular round game derives its name from the fact 
that the first card led or " pitched " is the trump suit, and that the 
privilege of pitching it belongs to the eldest hand, who may sell it 
out to the highest bidder. 

The number of cards and their rank is the same as at Seven- 
up ; A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2, the ace being the highest in cut- 
ting and in play. 



BIDDING. (Auction Pitch.) 233 

Players. Any number from four to seven may play, each 
for himself ; five is considered the best game. The players cut 
for choice of seats, the highest cut taking the first choice and the 
deal. 

Counters. Each player should be provided with seven white 
counters to mark the game. If stakes are played for, red counters 
are used to make up the pool, one player acting as the banker to 
sell and redeem all red counters. 

Dealing. Six cards are dealt to each player, three at a time, 
but no trump is turned. All the rules for irregularities in the deal 
are the same as in Seven-up, but a misdeal does not lose the deal 
under any circumstances. 

Objects of the Game. As in Seven-up, the object of each 
player is to get rid of his seven counters, one of which he is en- 
titled to put in the pool for each of the following points : For hold- 
ing the highest trump in play ; for holding (having dealt to him) 
the lowest trump in play ; for winning a trick with the Jach of 
trumps in it ; for making the greatest number of the pips that count 
for the game point. The details of these points have already 
been explained in connection with Seven-up. If the count for 
Game is a tie, no one scores it. 

Bidding. The eldest hand sells. If he pitches without wait- 
ing for a bid he must make four points, or he will be set back that 
number. Each player in turn, beginning on the left of the eldest 
hand, bids for the privilege of pitching the trump, naming the 
number of points he thinks he can make. If he will not bid, he 
must fsay distinctly: (( I pass." After a bid has been made, 
any following player must bid higher or pass. There are no 
second bids. The highest number any player can bid is four, 
which will require him to make High, Low, Jack, and the Game 
against the combined efforts of all the other players. The eldest 
hand must either accept the number bid, or pitch the trump him- 
self, and make as many points as the highest bidder offered him. 
If the eldest hand accepts, he pushes into the pool as many 
counters as he is bid, and the successful bidder pitches the trump. 
If no bid is made, the eldest hand must pitch the trump himself. 

A bidder is not allowed to give the seller enough points to put 
him out, and should he do so by mistake, he forfeits his right to 
bid at all for that deal. If the seller has only two to go, and a 
player is able to bid three or four,' he loses nothing by bidding 
one only, for no one can overbid him, and he is entitled to count 
all he makes. The only risk he runs is that the seller can afford 
to refuse one, and will go out on his own pitch. To remedy this 
it is the custom in some clubs to allow a player to bid the full 
value of his hand. If the seller accepts, he scores to within one 
of game ; but if he refuses, he must make as many as bid, even if 



234 (Auction Pitcn.) SCOEING. 

he does not actually want them. It is one of the fine points of 
the game for the seller to refuse when the number of points 
offered would put the bidder out if he was successful. 

There is no penalty for bidding out of turn. If a player chooses 
to expose to a preceding player what he is, prepared to bid, that is 
usually to his own disadvantage. 

Bidding to the Board. Modern players usually adopt the 
practice of bidding to the board, eldest hand having the first bid. 
In this form of the game the points bid count to no one, and any- 
one can bid up to four, no matter what the scores are. No one 
can claim the privilege of pitching the trump for as many as bid, as 
each in turn must bid higher or pass. 

Playing. The successful bidder has the first lead, and what- 
ever card he plays, whether by mistake or not, is the trump suit 
for that deal. After that, the winner of the trick may lead any 
suit he pleases. A player must follow suit in trumps if he is able 
to do so ; but in a plain suit he may trump if he chooses, although 
holding a card of the suit led. If he does not trump, he must 
follow suit if he can. If he has none of the suit led, he may 
trump or discard as he pleases. The highest card played of the 
suit led wins the trick, and trumps win all other suits. 

Scoring. At the end of the hand the various players claim 
the points made, and score them by placing white counters in the 
pool. If the bidder makes any points in excess of the number 
bid, he scores them. The first player to get rid of his seven white 
counters wins the pool, and takes down all the red counters it 
contains. The white counters are then re-distributed, and the 
players cut for the first deal of the new game. 

If two players can count out on the same deal, and one of them 
is the bidder, he wins the pool if he has made good his bid. If 
neither of the ties is the bidder, the points count out in their 
regular order, High first, then Low, then Jack, and finally Game. 
For instance : Seven are playing. A sells to B, who bids two. B 
and C have each two to go. B pitches a trump of which C has 
both High and Low ; but if B makes Jack and Game he wins the 
pool, because he bid only two points, and made them. This is 
generally expressed by the rule : bidder goes out first. 

Setting Back. If the player who pitches the trump fails to 
make the number of points bid, he is set back, and scores nothing 
for any points he may have made. A player who is set back, 
either for overbidding his hand, or for refusing to sell and failing 
to make the number of points offered him, must withdraw from 
the pool as many white counters as were bid, and add them to his 
own. For instance : It is A's sell. A and B each have two to 
go. B bids three, which A refuses, pitching the trump himself. 
A makes only two points, B scoring one, and a third player D, 



AUCTION PITCH. (Pedro.) 235 

another. B and D score one each, but A scores nothing for the 
two points he made, and must take three white counters from the 
pool, which will make him five to go. Had the bid which A re- 
fused been two only, ne would have won the game, as he made 
two points. In many clubs it is the custom for a player who is 
set back to add a red counter to the pool. 

Irregularities in Play. If any adversary of the pfayer 
who pitches the trump leads or plays out of turn, he may be called 
upon by the bidder to play his highest or lowest of the suit led ; or 
to trump or not to trump the trick. If any player but the pitcher 
has followed the erroneous lead, the cards must be taken back ; 
but if the pitcher has followed, the error cannot be rectified. 

In case of a revoke, the hand is played out as if the revoke had 
not occurred, and each player except the person in error counts 
whatever points he makes. If the pitcher of the trump fails to 
make the number of points bid, he cannot be set back, but must 
be allowed to score any points he makes. The revoking player is 
then set back the number of points bid, and forfeits a red counter 
to the pool. If no bid was made, he is set back two points. 



SMUDGE. 



In this variation of auction pitch, any player who is not in the 
hole wins the game at once if he can bid four and make it. 



PEDRO. 

Pedro, fcedro Sancho, Dom Pedro, and Snoozer, are all varieties 
of Auction Pitch, in which certain counting cards are added, and 
secondary bids are allowed. 

Everything counts to the player winning it, instead of to the one 
to whom it is dealt. The game point is scored by the player who 
w T ins the trick containing the Ten of trumps. If that card is not 
in play there is no Game. 

In Pedro Sancho, the Five and Nine of trumps count their 
pip value in scoring, so that 18 points can be bid and made on 
one deal ; one each for High, Low, Jack, and Game, and fourteen 
more for the Nine and Five of trumps. These two trumps have no 
special rank. The Ten will win the Nine, and the Six will take the 
Five. In some places all the cards in the pack are dealt out, which 
makes a much better game in any form of Pedro. 

The eldest hand sells, as at Auction Pitch. If a player's first 
bid is raised he may raise again in his proper turn. 



236 (Cinciu) DOM PEDRO. 

Fifty points is game, and the players are usually provided with 
two varieties of counters for scoring; one worth five points, and 
the other worth one. The rank of the points in scoring is ; High, 
Low, Jack, Ten (Game), Five, and Nine. The revoke penalty is to 
be set back the number of points bid, or ten points if there is no 
bid, and the player in fault cannot score anything that hand. In 
all other respects the rules are the same as in Auction Pitch. 

In Dom, Pedro, or Snoozer, the Joker is added to the pack, 
and the Three, Five, and Nine of trumps count their pip value in 
scoring. The Joker, or Snoozer, counts fifteen, so that thirty-six 
points can be bid and made on one deal. The Joker is the lowest 
trump, so that the deuce of trumps will win it, but it will win any 
trick in plain suits. Fifty or a hundred points is the game. In 
counting out, the order of precedence is : High, Low, Jack, Ten 
(Game), Three, Five, Nine, Snoozer. 



CINCH, 

DOUBLE PEDRO, OR HIGH FIVE. 

This is now regarded as the most important variety of All Fours, 
and bids fair to supplant the parent game altogether. Properly 
speaking, Cinch is one of the pedro variations of Auction Pitch, 
the difference being that no one sells, and that there is added the 
always popular American feature of a draw to improve the hand. 

The derivation and meaning of the name, Cinch, seems to be very 
much misunderstood. Many persons assume it is simply a name 
for the Left Pedro, but such is not the case. Cinch is a Mexican 
word for a strong saddle-girth, and when used as a verb it refers 
to the manner of adjusting the girth on a bucking broncho so that 
no amount of kicking will get him free. The word is used in this 
sense to describe one of the principal tactics of the card game, 
which is to " cinch " certain tricks, so that the adversary cannot 
possibly get either of the Pedroes free. 

CARDS. Cinch is played with a full pack of fifty-two cards 
which rank AKQJio 9876543 2. When the suit is trumps 
the 5 retains its natural position, and is known as the Right Pe- 
dro; but the 5 of the same colour as the trump suit, which is 
known as the Left Pedro, ranks between the 5 and 4 of the trump 
suit. The ace is highest in cutting and in play. Whist-players, 
who have taken up Cinch as a side issue, are in the habit of mak- 
ing the ace lowest in cutting ; but such a practice is out of har- 
mony with all other members of the Seven-up family of games. 

CO UNTERS. The score is usually kept on a sheet of paper ; 



DEALING. (Cinck) 237 

but it is more convenient to provide each side with 8 red and 1 1 
white counters, representing 51 points; the whites being worth 1, 
and the reds 5 each. A good pull-up cribbage board is still better. 




Pull-Up Game Counter. 
JPLAYEHS. Any number from two to six can play ; but the 
regular game is for four persons, two of whom are partners against 
the other two. The player on the dealer's left is the eldest 
hand ; on the dealer's right is the pone. 

CUTTING. The players draw from an outspread pack for 
partners, seats, and deal. The two lowest play against the two 
highest; the highest cut has the choice of seats and cards, and 
deals the first hand. Partners sit opposite each other. 

DEALING. Each player has the right to shuffle the pack, 
the dealer last. The cards are then presented to the pone to be 
cut, and at least four cards must be left in each packet. Begin- 
ning on his left, the dealer gives nine cards to each player, three at 
a time in three separate rounds. No trump is turned, and the 
remainder of the pack is left on the table face downward. 

MISDEALING. If any card is found faced in the pack, the 
cards must be re-shuffled and dealt again. If the dealer exposes a 
card in dealing, or turns up a trump by mistake, the adversaries 
may elect to have a new deal by the same dealer, or to let the deal 
stand. If the dealer gives too many or too few cards to any player, 
or fails to give the same number of cards in each round, it is a 
misdeal, and the deal passes to the next player on the left. Any 
player dealing out of turn, or with the wrong cards, may be stopped 
before the last three cards are dealt ; but after that the deal 
stands good. If a misdeal is not discovered until after a bid has 
been made, the deal stands good if three players have their right 
number of cards. The deal passes in regular rotation to the left. 

OBJECTS OF THE _ GAME. The game is fifty-one 
points, and the side first pegging that number, or getting rid of its 
fifty-one counters is the winner. Fourteen points are made on 
every deal, as follows : — 

1 For High, the ace of trumps. 

1 For Low, the deuce of trumps. 

1 For the Jack of trumps. 

1 For the Ten of trumps, or Game* 



238 (Oncfu) BIDDING. 

5 For the Five of trumps, or Right Pedro, 

5 For the Five of the same colour, or Left Pedro, 

14 points altogether ; all in the trump suit. 
All these points, including Low, count to the player winning 
them, and not to the players to whom they are dealt. This saves 
endless disputes. 

BIDDING. Beginning with the eldest hand, each player in 
turn, after examining his nine cards, can make one bid for the 
privilege of naming the trump suit. The peculiarity of this bid- 
ding is that nobody sells, the bids being made to the hoard, as 
it is called. The bidder announces»the number of points he thinks 
he can make (with his partner's assistance) but does not name the 
trump suit. If a player will not bid, he says : (i I pass." After 
a bid has been made in its proper turn, any following player must 
bid higher or pass. No one is allowed to bid more than fourteen. 
There are no second bids, and a bid once made cannot be amended 
or withdrawn. The player who has made the highest bid is called 
upon to name the trump suit. 

Irregular Bids. If any player bids before the eldest hand 
has bid or passed, both the player in error and his partner lose 
their right to make any bid that deal ; but the side not in error 
must bid against each other for the privilege of naming the trump 
suit. If the eldest hand has decided, and the pone bids without 
waiting for the dealer's partner, the pone loses his bid, and the 
dealer may bid before his partner, without penalty. If the dealer 
bids before his partner has decided, both he and his partner lose 
their right to bid that deal ; but the pone is still at liberty to over- 
bid the eldest hand for the privilege of naming the trump. If the 
dealer's partner has bid, and the dealer bids without waiting for 
the pone, the dealer loses his right to bid for that deal. 

If a player whose partner has not yet bid names the trump suit, 
his partner loses the right to bid. If no bid is made, the dealer 
may name any suit he pleases, without bidding. If any player 
exposes a card beforte he trump suit is named, the adversaries may 
elect to have a new deal by the same dealer. 

DISCARDING AND DRAWING. The trump suit 
named, each player discards and leaves face upward on the 

table as many cards as he pleases. He must discard three, to re- 
duce his hand to six cards. If he discards more than three he 
must draw from the remainder of the pack to restore the number 
of his cards to six ; so that after the discard and draw each player 
at the table will have exactly six cards, although nine were originally 
dealt him. 

The dealer, beginning on his left, gives to each player in turn as 
many cards from the top of the pack as may be necessary to re- 
store the number in his hand to six. When it comes to the 



FLAYING. (Cinch.) 239 

dealer's turn, instead of taking cards from the top of the pack, he 
may search the remainder of the pack, and take from it any cards 
that he pleases. This is called robbing the deck. Should he 
find in his own hand and the remainder of the pack more than six 
trumps, he must discard those he does not want, showing them 
face up on the table with the other discards. 

Should any player discard a trump, his partner has the right to 
call his attention to it, and if the player has not been helped to 
cards, or has not lifted the cards drawn, the trump erroneously 
discarded may be taken back ; otherwise it must remain among 
the discards until the hand has been played, when, if it is of any 
counting value, it must be added to the score of the side making . 
the trump. 

Although there is no law to that effect, it is considered impera- 
tive for each player except the dealer to discard everything but 
trumps. This is partly because no other cards are of the slightest 
use, and partly because one of the points of the game is that the 
number of trumps held by each player before the draw should be 
indicated by his discard. 

METHOD OF PLAYING. The player who has named 
the trump suit begins by leading any card he pleases. If a trump 
is led, every one must follow suit if able to do so, and it must be 
remembered that the Left Pedro is one of the trump suit. When 
a plain suit is led, any player may trump if he chooses, although 
holding one of the suit led ; but if he does not trump, he must fol- 
low suit if he can. If he has none of the suit led he may trump 
or discard at pleasure. The highest card played of the suit led 
wins the trick, and trumps win all other suits. The Five of trumps, 
or any higher, will win the Left Pedro ; but the Left Pedro will 
win the Four of trumps, or any lower. The winner of the trick 
gathers it in, turning it face down, and leads for the next trick, and 
soon, until all six tricks have been played. The tricks themselves 
have no value, and need not be kept separate. The last trick 
turned and quitted may be seen, but no other. 

Irregularities in Playing. If, during the play of a hand, 
any person is found to have too many cards, his hand is foul, and 
neither he nor his partner can score any points for that deal, but 
they may play the hand out to prevent the adversaries from scor- 
ing everything. If he has too few cards there is no penalty. 

If a player leads out of turn, and the three others follow him, 
the trick stands good. If all have not followed the false lead, their 
cards must be taken back, but only the leader's card is liable to be 
called. If it was the turn of the partner of the player in error to 
lead, the adversary on his right may call upon him to lead or not 
to lead a trump ; but he cannot specify the plain suit. If it was 
the turn of either adversary of the player in error to lead, the card 
led in error is simply exposed. 



240 (Cinch.) SCORING, 

If the third hand plays before the second, the fourth may play 
before the second also. If the fourth hand plays before his part- 
ner, third hand not having played, the trick may be claimed by the 
adversaries, regardless of who wins it ; but the player who actually 
wins it leads for the next trick. 

If a player has a card of the suit led, and neither follows suit 
nor plays a trump, it is a revoke ; and, if detected and claimed 
by the adversaries, neither the player in error nor his partner can 
score any points that hand ; but the hand may be played out to 
prevent the adversaries from scoring everything If an adversary 
of the bidder revokes, the bidder's side scores all points it makes, 
regardless of the number bid. For instance : A has bid nine ; 
and Y revokes. A-B make eight only, which they score, Y-Z scor- 
ing nothing. When a player renounces, his partner should ask 
him if he is void of the suit. 

If any player abandons his hand, the cards in it may be exposed 
and called by the adversaries. The practice of throwing down the 
hand as soon as one renounces to trumps, cannot be too strongly 
condemned. 

All exposed cards, such as cards dropped on the table ; two 
or more played at once ; cards led out of turn ; or cards named by 
the player holding them, must be left face up on the table, and are 
liable to be called by the adversaries, unless they can be previously 
got rid of in the course of play. If the exposed card is a trump, 
the adversaries may prevent its being played, but the holder of it 
is not liable for a revoke in such cases. 

SCORING, When the last card has been played, each side 
turns over all the tricks won, and counts the points they contain ; 
High, Low, Jack, Game, Right and Left Pedro. Everything, in- 
cluding Low, counts to the side winning it. The number of 
points won or lost is determined by deducting the lower score 
from the higher, the difference being the number of points won on 
that deal. If it is a tie, neither side scores. If either side has in- 
curred a penalty which prevents them from scoring any points 
they may have won, the adversaries have nothing to deduct, and 
score all they make. 

If the side that named the trump fails to make as' many points 
as it bid, it scores nothing, and the number of points bid are 
scored by the adversaries, in addition to any points that the adver- 
saries may have made in play. For instance : A-B are partners 
against Y-Z. B has bid to make 8, and named hearts for trumps. 
A-B make 10, which is 2 more than they bid, Y-Z getting the 
other 4 ; which leaves A-B 6. These are scored by placing one 
red and one white counter in the pool. But suppose A-B got only 
5 points, Y-Z getting 9. A-B would score nothing, as they did 
not make good their bid ; while Y-Z would score the 9 points 
actually won, and the 8 points bid in addition, or 17 altogether. 



VARIATIONS. (Cinch.) 241 

The old way of scoring was to set back the side that failed to 
make the number bid ; but that system of counting entirely de- 
stroyed the interest in the game when one side got much behind ; 
because it could not recover in time to prevent the other side from 
sweating out, as it is called. Suppose A-B have been set back 
18 points on two failures, Y-Z having made 16 points on those two 
deals, and 23 on their own bids. The score will stand : A-B 64 to 
go; Y-Z, 12 to go. Even if we suppose that A-B make 11 on 
each of the next four deals, they will still have 20 to go. while 
Y-Z will be out. Again: A-B want 15, Y-Z want 2. Even if 
A-B can bid 12 and make it, Y-Z will sweat out. 

With the system of scoring here recommended, this sweating 
out is impossible, and it is not uncommon for a side that wants 
one to go, to be beaten by an adversary that wants forty-nine. 

The side first pegging out on a cribbage-board, or getting rid of 
its fifty-one counters, wins the game. When the game is counted 
on a pull-up cribbage marker, it is usual to start with ten up, and 
peg out to the game-hole, or 61. 

VARIATIONS. There are quite a number of minor differ- 
ences in the manner of playing Cinch. Sometimes, instead of 
discarding and drawing, after the successful bidder has been as- 
certained, but before he names the trump, four more cards are 
given to each player, including the dealer. Having seen thirteen 
cards, the bidder names the trump suit, and the hands are then 
reduced to six cards each. This method gives no clue to the num- 
ber of trumps originally held, and deprives the dealer of one of the 
greatest advantages of his position, robbing the deck. 

Another method is to discard and draw after the trump is 
named, but to make the dealer take his cards from the top of the 
pack to complete his hand, without seeing what he is to get. This 
often leaves counting cards in, the remainder of the pack, which 
must remain face down, and be kept separate from the discards. 
Such points count for neither side ; but any points found among 
the discards may be counted by the side making the trump, as in 
the ordinary game. Owing to the uncertainty as to the number of 
points actually in play, the result is controlled more largely by luck 
than skill. 

In some places the first lead from the successful bidder must 
be a trump. This makes the game too much like Auction Pitch, 
and spoils some of the finer points in leading. 

Low is sometimes counted for the person to whom it is dealt. 
Such a rule causes endless confusion and disputes. 

The old method of scoring has already been mentioned. 
Another variation is that if the bidder's side do not make at least 
8 points they cannot score anything, no matter what they bid. If 
both sides score 7, neither having bid more than 7, neither scores, 
If one side bids 6, and makes 8, it scores 8 ; but the adversaries score 
the 6 they make. If the side bidding 6 had made 6 only, it would 



242 (Ouch.) PROGRESSIVE CINCH. 

score nothing, while their adversaries would mark the 8 they made. 
The only good result of the 6 bid in this case is to prevent the ad- 
versaries from scoring for a failure ; for if 7 had been bid, and 
only 6 made, the adversaries would have scored the 7 bid in addi- 
tion to the 8 they made, or. 1 5 in all. This system, while better 
than the old way, because it never sets players back, still allows 
one side to sweat out ; because if the bidder does not make 14, 
the adversaries must count something every deal. 

Five or six players, each for himself, may play what is 
called Auction Cinch, or Razzle-dazzle. Only six cards are 
dealt to each player, three on the first round and three on the 
second. Then the privilege of naming the trump suit is bid for 
as usual. After the trump is named, superfluous cards are thrown 
out, and others drawn in their place, restoring the hands to six 
cards each. The successful bidder then calls upon the holder of 
any given card to be his partner. The person holding the card 
named cannot refuse, and says : " I play with you." The partner- 
ship thus formed plays against the combined forces of the other 
players, but without changing seats. The maker of the trump 
leads first, any card he pleases. For instance : ABCDE are 
playing. C bids 8 and names clubs. After the draw he finds he 
holds A J 10 5 2 of trumps. He calls for the club King as his 
partner, and leads his Pedro at once for the King to take it in. 
He is then certain to catch the other Pedro, or to save three of the 
four points for High, Low, Jack, and the Game. Those who have 
played Seven-handed Euchre will at once recognize the similarity 
of the two games. Both are excellent round games for the family 
circle. 

Progressive Cinch is played by dealing one round at each 
table ; that is, four deals, each player having the deal once only. 
The ordinary game of Cinch is played, an<jl the pair having the 
fewest points to go at the end of the four deals progress to the 
next higher table. Ties cut to decide, high going up. On arriv- 
ing at the next table, the partners divide, and another game of 
four deals is played, the winning pair again progressing. The 
general arrangements foi the original positions of the players, and 
the prizes to be given, are the same as in Progressive Euchre, and 
have been fully described in connection with that game. 

Blind Cinch. Instead of giving each player thirteen cards at 
once, the hands are dealt in two parts. First of all, nine cards are 
dealt to each player, three at a time. Then four cards are dealt in 
front of each player, but not to be touched until the bidding is 
finished. The highest bidder takes up his four extra cards and 
then names the trump, after which he discards down to six cards 
for play. The others then take up their four cards and discard 
down to six, and the game proceeds like regular cinch. 

Sixty -three. In this variation, nine cards are dealt to each 
player, three at a time. After the bidding, the players discard and 



GOOD PLAY. (Cinch.) 243 

fill up again to six cards. Players are allowed several bids, each 
raising in turn if he is raised. The highest bid possible is sixty- 
three, and these may be made as follows : High, low, Jack, and ten 
of trumps count i each ; pedros, 5 each ; King of trumps, 25 ; trey 
of trumps, 15 ; nine of trumps, 9. Game is 150 points. 

Widow Cinch, Six players cut for partners, two on a side. 
Each player has two adversaries between himself and his partner. 
The dealer gives each player eight cards, four at a time, and four 
are dealt to the table after the first round to the players. These 
four cards are the widow. The successful bidder can take the 
widow before he names the trump, and then all the players discard 
down to six cards. 

SUGGESTIONS FOIt GOOD PLAY. There is agreat 
diversity of opinion on bidding. Some persons always bid six on 
an ace, if they hold neither of the Pedroes. This is based on the 
sound principle that the odds are five to four in favour of your 
partner having one of the Pedroes, which he will immediately give 
up if you lead the ace. The odds are five to two that your part- 
ner will hold one or more of any three named counting cards 
which you do not hold. If you have no Pedro, count on him for 
one, and if you have King and Queen, you can risk his having a 
guard to it, and bid as if you were sure of getting his Pedro home. 
If you have none of the points for High, Low, Jack, or Game, or 
only one of them, count on him for one at least, and bid accord- 
ingly. 

It is very difficult to give exact rules for bidding, the state of the 
score having much to do with it ; but as a general rule it is much 
better to bid on catching cards than on the points themselves. 
For instance : A K Q of trumps should certainly be good for eight 
points ; some players habitually bid twelve on them, reckoning to 
catch both Pedroes and one of the minor points. This is risky un- 
less there are one or two small trumps with the AKQ, On the 
other hand, two Pedroes, with Jack and Low, are not worth bid- 
ding more than five on ; because it is very unlikely that you will 
save more than one of the Pedroes, if that. The very fact that 
you bid five diminishes your chances, for you betray the fact that 
your only hope is to save a well-guarded Pedro. Long experience 
with players who bid their hands correctly will give a player a very 
good idea of what the bidder has in his hand. To the partner this 
is a great point, for it enables him to judge when to give up points 
himself, and when to play for his partner to throw them to him. 

The number of cards asked for by each player should be very 
carefully noted ; for it will frequently happen that the entire trump 
suit can be located by this means. It is useless to keep anything 
but trumps, for tricks, as such, have no value, and every card yoa 
draw increases your chances of getting another trump. 

The most important point in the game is to cinch every trick m 
which an adversary plays after you ; that is, to play some trump 



244 (Oath) ILLUSTRATIVE HANDS. 

higher than a Pedro, if the Pedroes have not been played, and you 
do not hold them yourself. Examples of cinching will be found in 
the Illustrative ifHands. If your partner leads a certain winning 
trump, such as the ace, or the King if the ace is gone, give him 
the best counting card you have ; but if you have two, one of 
them being Low, give up the lower card first ; you may catch 
something with the Jack or Ten. If your partner leads any trump 
higher than the Five, play your smallest trump unless second hand 
covers, in which case you must cinch the trick, to prevent the 
fourth hand from giving up a Pedro on his partner's trick. 

If you are forced to win your partner's first lead of trumps, re- 
turn the best trump you have, unless it is the Jack or Ten, in which 
case you must be guided by the number of points you are playing 
for, and your chances of making them if you lose the . card you 
lead. 

If your partner begins by leading a plain suit, you must cinch 
the trick if you can ; if second hand follows suit, any trump better 
than the Five will do. If second hand puts on a trump, you must 
cinch higher. 

If the player on your right renounces to trumps, get into the 
lead if possible, and play your best cards in plain suits. This may 
give your partner a tenace position over the player on your left. 

If partner begins with a high card in trumps, not the ace, credit 
him with the sequence below it, and put in your Pedro at the first 
opportunity. For instance : Partner leads King, won by the ace 
second hand. Whatever this player leads, put in your Pedro, if 
you have one, your partner must have Queen of trumps. 

Playing to the score is very important. Do not attempt to get 
more than the number bid until that is assured. On the other 
hand, if it is certain that the adversary cannot make good his bid, 
do not let him get as close to it as possible, but play boldly to win 
all you can, for every point he makes is simply lost. 

Here are a few example hands, which will givQ a very good idea 
of some of the fine points in the game. 



No. 


1. A bids 8 on 


hearts. 




No. 2. A bids 8 on 


hearts. 


The draw 


:A2; Y2; 
b 4 ; Z5- 


u 

3 

H 


The draw : A 2 ; Y 3 ; 
B 4 ; Z 4. 


A Y 


B Z 


A 


Y B Z 


*Q 

V 2 

<? K 


*3 

V 6 

V J 

5 


<7 8 

<? q 

* j 

2 * 


* 5 
<? 4 
<? 9 
4 * 


i 

2 

3 

4 


V 3 
VQ 
<P 6 
*2 


<? 7 
<? 2 
V J 

7 » 


V 4 
AO 
KO 


V 8 
<? 9 
*4 
6 * 


<?A 


V 7 


6 * 


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ILLUSTRATIVE SANDS. (Cinch.) 245 

No, 1. Y's draw shows that he holds at least four trumps, so 
A must trust his partner to cinch the first trick and return the 
trump. [See our suggestions for good play.J At trick 3, Z cinches, 
to make A play a high trump. It is evident to A that neither L 
nor Z holds either Jack or Seven of trumps ; so both those cards 
must be with Y. As B has no more trumps the adversaries must 
have both Pedroes, and Y must have one, as he holds four trumps. 
If they are divided, A can catch both by cinching this trick with 
the King and leading the Ace ; but if Y has both Pedroes, such a 
course would lose Jack, Game, and one Pedro. If A cinches this 
trick with the Ten, allowing Y to win with the Jack, A must catch 
both Pedroes, no matter how they lie, provided Y leads the trump 
Seven, for A will refuse to win it. 

Y sees his danger, and by leading a Pedro to A, forces him 
cither to pass it, or to get into the lead and free the other Pedro. 

A-B score nothing : Y-Z score 7 for Jack, Game, Pedro ; and 8 
in addition, for points bid but not made by A-B ; 15 altogether. 

No, 2, At trick 2, Y sees that he cannot save Low, and the 
lead would be a great disadvantage, because either A has all the 
remaining trumps, or Y's partner has an unguarded Pedro. At 
trick 3, A knows that if Y has Ace, and Z Pedro, A can still make 
his bid by catching Jack, and saving his own Pedro. If the Pedro 
is not with Z the small trump is still the best lead, for it puts the 
lead on A's left. B gets rid of cards which might get him into the 
lead to his partner's disadvantage. Unfortunately, Z is unable to 
take the lead away from Y at trick 4. As Y is still in the lead, 
there is no necessity for A to save his Pedro, for Y cannot pos- 
sibly catch it, and A must catch Y's, no matter how Y plays. 

A-B score 10 points ; Low, Game, and both Pedroes, 12, from 
which they deduct the 2 points made by Y-Z. 



No, 3, A bids 12 on hearts. 




No, 4, A bids 8 on 


hearts. 


The draw : A 3 ; Y 5 ; 
B 3 ; Z 2. 


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The draw : 


A2; Y4; 
B4; Z4. 


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246 (Cinch.) ILLUSTRATIVE HANDS, 

No. 3. At the second trick, A knows that his partner still 
holds another trump, because he drew only three cards. This 
trump must be the 9. Z holds two more trumps, and they must 
be the Jack and Right Pedro, because Z would not throw away 
Game if he had anything smaller. The 7 must be with Y, and if A 
now leads trump Queen, he will leave the Pedro good over his 
Deuce, leaving him only 8 points, whereas he has bid 12. If A 
leads the Deuce, his partner's nine will cinch the trick, and Z can 
make only the Jack. 

A-B score 10. The 12 actually taken make good the bid; but 
the 2 points won by the adversaries must be deducted, leaving 10 
to be scored by A-B. 

No. 4. At the third trick, a hasty or careless player would 
have been only too glad of the opportunity to get in his Pedro. 
But Y reasons that there are only two trumps unaccounted for, the 
Ten and Left Pedro. If B has one, it must fall to this trick. He 
cannot have both, for A drew only two cards. If A has both, Y 
must catch his Pedro, no matter how A plays ; and as long as Y 
does not get into the lead himself, he cannot lose his own Pedro. 
At trick 5, A naturally places the Pedro with Z, as Y did not save 
it on the King, and it is perfectly natural for A to trump with his 
Pedro, intending to lead the v Ten to catch Z's. 

A-B score nothing, not having made good their bid. Y-Z score 
Right and Left Pedro, and Low, 1 1 points ; adding the 8 points bid 
but not made by A-B, 19 altogether. 



CINCH LAWS, 

Formation of Table. A cinch table is complete with six 
players. If more than four assemble, they cut for preference, the 
four highest playing the first game. Partners and deal are then 
cut for, the two lowest pairing against the two highest. Partners 
sit opposite each other. The highest deals, and has the choice 
of seats and cards. The Ace is high, both in cutting and in play. 
A player exposing more than one card must cut again. 

Ties. If the first cut does not decide, the players cutting equal 
cards cut again ; but the new cut decides nothing but the tie. 

Cutting Out. At the end of the game, the players cut to de- 
cide which shall give way to those awaiting their turn to play, the 
lowest cuts going out. After the second game, those who have 
played the greatest number of consecutive games give way, ties 
being decided by cutting. 

Dealing. Every player has the right to shuffle the cards, the 
dealer last. The dealer must present the pack to the pone to be 
cut. At least four cards must be left in each packet. If a card 



CINCH LAWS. (Cinch.) 247 

is exposed in cutting, the pack must be re-shuffled, and cut again. 
If the dealer re-shuffles the pack after it has been properly cut, 
he loses his deal. 

Beginning on his left, the dealer must give to each player in 
rotation three cards at a time for three rounds. No trump is 
turned. The deal passes to the left. 

There must be a new deal by the same dealer if any card is 
found faced in the pack ; or if the pack is proved incorrect or im- 
perfect ; but any previous cutting or scores made with the im- 
perfect pack stand good. 

The adversaries may demand a new deal if any card is exposed 
during the deal, provided they have not touched a card. If an 
adversary exposes a card, the dealer may elect to deal again. If 
a new deal is not demanded, cards exposed in dealing cannot be 
called. 

The adversaries may stop a player dealing out of turn, or with 
the wrong pack, provided they do so before the last three cards 
are dealt, after which the deal stands good. 

Misdealing, A misdeal loses the deal. It is a misdeal : If 
the cards have not been properly cut ; if the dealer does not give 
the same number of cards to each player on the same round ; if he 
gives too many or too few cards to any player ; if he counts the 
cards on the table, or those remaining in the pack ; or if he deals 
a card incorrectly, and fails to correct the error before dealing 
another. If the dealer is interrupted in any way by an adversary, 
he does not lose his deal. 

Bidding, After receiving his nine cards, each player in turn, 
beginning on the dealer's left, announces the number of points he 
will undertake to win if he is allowed to name the trump suit. No 
player is allowed to bid more than fourteen. If he will not bid, he 
must say: "I pass." A bid having been regularly made, any 
following player must bid higher or pass. There are no second 
bids. A bid once made can neither be amended nor withdrawn. 

Irregular Bids. If any player bids before the eldest hand 
has bid or passed, both the player in error and his partner lose 
their right to bid ; but the side not in error must bid to decide 
which of them shall name the trump. If the eldest hand has de- 
cided, and the pone bids withou waiting for the dealer's partner, 
the .one loses his bid, and the dealer may bid before his partner. 
If the dealer bids without waiting for his partner, both lose their 
bids ; but the pone may overbid the eldest hand. 

If the der er's partner has bid, and the dealer bids without wait- 
ing for the pone, the dealer loses his bid. 

If a player whose partner has not yet bid names the trump suit, 
his partner loses his bid. 

If a player bids with more than nine cards in his hand, his bid is 



248 (Cinch.) CINCH LAWS. 

lost, and the adversaries^must draw the superfluous cards from his 
hand, face down, placing them about the middle of the undealt 
portion of the pack. 

If no bid is made, the dealer may name any trump he pleases, 
without bidding. 

If any player exposes any of his cards before the trump suit is 
named, the adversaries may elect to have a new deal by the same 
dealer. 

Discarding, The trump named, each player must put out at 
least three of his cards, and may discard as many more as he 
pleases. All such discards must be placed on the table face up. 
Should a player discard a trump, his partner may call his attention 
to it, and it may be taken back, provided the player has not been 
helped to cards, or has not lifted the cards drawn. 

Drawing. The players having discarded, the dealer, begin- 
ning on his left, must give to each in turn from the top of the 
pack, face down, as many cards as may be necessary to restore 
the number in each hand to six. 

Mobbing the Deck. When it comes to the dealer's turn to 
draw cards, instead of taking them from the top of the pack, face 
down, he may search the remainder of the pack, and take from it 
any cards he pleases to restore the number in his hand to six. 
Should he find in his own hand and in the remainder of the pack, 
more than six trumps, he must discard those he does not want, 
face upward on the table. 

Irregular Drawing. Should a player ask for too many or 
too few cards, and not discover his error until the next player has 
been helped, if he has too few he may make his hand good from 
the discards, but must not take a trump therefrom. If he has too 
many, the adversaries must be allowed to draw the superfluous 
ones at random, face down, placing them on the top of the pack. 

Flaying. The maker of the trump must lead for the first 
trick, any card he pleases. If a trump is led, all must follow suit 
if able. If a plain suit is led, a player may trump, even when 
holding a card of the suit led ; but if he does not trump he must 
follow suit if he can, or he is liable to the penalty for a revoke. 

The last trick turned and quitted may be seen, but no other. 

Irregularities in the Hands. If any player is found to 
have an incorrect number of cards, it is a misdeal if no bid has 
been made. If a bid has been made, the deal stands good if three 
players have their right number of cards. If the first trick has 
been played to by a person holding too many cards, neither he nor 
his partner can score anything that hand ; but they may play the 
hand out to save what points they can. If a player has too few 
cards, there is no penalty, but he should draw from the discard to 
make up the deficiency, plain-suit cards only being available. 



CINCH LAWS. (Cinch.) 249 

Exposed Cards* The following are exposed cards, which 
must Deleft face up on the table, and are liable to be called by either 
adversary: i. Every card faced upon the table otherwise than in 
the regular course of play. 2. Two or more cards played to a 
trick ; the adversaries may elect which shall be played. 3. Any 
card named by the player holding it. 

The adversary on the right of an exposed card must call it be- 
fore he plays himself. If it will be the turn of the player holding 
the exposed card to lead for the next trick, the card, if wanted, 
must be called before the current trick is turned and quitted. 
Should a player having the lead, and an exposed card in front of 
him, play before the previous trick is turned and quitted, the card 
so led may also be claimed as exposed. 

If a trump is exposed after the trump suit has been named, the 
adversaries may prevent the playing of such a card ; but the holder 
of it is not liable to any penalty for a revoke under such circum- 
stances. 

Leading Out of Turn. If a player leads when it was his 
partner's turn, the partner may be called upon by his right-hand 
adversary to lead' or not to lead a trump ; but a specified plain 
suit cannot be called. If it was the turn of neither of the side in 
error to lead, the card played in error is simply exposed. If all 
have played to the false lead, the error cannot be rectified. If all 
have not followed, the cards played to the false lead may be taken 
back, and are not liable to be called. 

Playing Out of Turn, If the third hand plays before the 
second, the fourth may play before the second also ; either of his 
own volition, or by the direction of the second hand, who may say: 
" Play, partner." If the fourth hand plays before the second, the 
third hand not having played, the trick may be claimed by the ad- 
versaries, no matter who actually wins it ; but the actual winner of 
it must lead for the next trick. 

If any player abandons his hand, the cards in it may be claimed 
as exposed, and called by the adversaries. 

The Revoke, A revoke is a renounce in error, not corrected, 
in time, or non-compliance with a performable penalty. It is a 
revoke if a player has one of the suit led, and neither follows suit 
nor trumps. 

A person prohibited from playing an exposed trump is not 
liable to any penalty if it causes him to revoke. 

A revoke is established when the trick in which it occurs has 
been turned and quitted ; or when either the revoking player or 
his partner, whether in. his right turn or otherwise, has led or 
played to the following trick. 

If a revoke is claimed and proved, the revoking side cannot 
score any points that deal ; but they may play the hand out to 
prevent the adversaries from making points. 



250 (Cinch.) CINCH LAWS. 

If an adversary of the bidder revokes, the bidder's side scores 
whatever points it makes that deal, regardless of the number bid. 

A player may ask his partner whether or not he has a card of 
the suit in which he renounces and does not trump, and the player 
may correct his error if the question is asked before the trick is 
turned and quitted. But if he answers in the negative, there is no 
remedy. 

Drawing Cards. Any player may ask the others to indicate 
the cards played by them to the current trick ; but he must con- 
fine himself to the expression : " Draw cards." 

Irregular Remarks. A player calling attention in any 
manner to the trick or to the score, may be called upon to play 
his highest or lowest of the suit led ; or to trump or not to trump 
the trick during the play of which the remark is made. 

Scoring. A game consists of fifty-one points; fourteen of 
which must be made on every deal, as follows : — 

I for High, or the Ace of trumps. 

I for Low, or the Deuce of trumps. 

I for the Jack of trumps. 

i for Game, or the Ten of trumps. 

5 for Right Pedro, or the Five of trumps. 

5 for Left Pedro, or Five of the same colour as the trump 
suit. All points count to the side winning them. 

Any trumps found among the discards at the end of the hand 
count for the side that made the trump. 

At the end of the hand, the number of points won by each side 
is added up, and the lower deducted from the higher, the differ- 
ence being scored by the winners of the majority. If the result is 
a tie, neither scores. For instance: If A-B make n, Y-Z must 
make the remaining 3, which deducted from 1 1 leaves 8 points for 
A-B to score. 

If the side naming the trump suit fails to make as many points 
as they bid, they score nothing for that deal, and the number bid 
is scored by the adversaries, in addition to any other points that 
the adversaries may have made in play. The number bid and the 
number actually won, must be compared before deducting the 
points made by the adversaries. 

The side first making fifty-one points wins the game. 



Text Hooks. There are two very good text-books on the 
game. 

The Laws and Principles of Cinch, by G. W. Hall, 1891. 

The Laws and Etiquette of Cinch, issued by the Chicago 
Cinch Club, 1890. 



(Hearts.) 251 



HEARTS. 



Hearts is supposed by some persons to be an entirely new 
game ; but its leading principle, losing instead of winning tricks, 
is to be found in many other card games, some of which are quite 
old. Slobberhannes, Enfle, Schwellen, Polignac, and The Four 
Jacks, all belong to the same family, but most of them have given 
way to the more popular game of Hearts. 

There are several varieties of Hearts, but the principal arrange- 
ments are the same in all, and the chief differences are in the man- 
ner of settling at the end of the hand. 

CARDS. Hearts is played with a full pack of fifty-two cards, 
which rank AKQJ 1098765432: the ace is the highest in 
play, but in cutting it ranks below the deuce. There is no trump 
suit. 

When three persons play, the deuce of spades is thrown out of 
the pack; when five play, both the black deuces are laid aside, 
and when six play, all four deuces are discarded. It is usual to 
play with two packs, one being shuffled whMe the other is dealt. 

COUNTERS* Every deal is a game in itself, and must be 
settled for in counters immediately. It is usual for each player to 
begin with fifty counters, which are purchased from some person 
who is agreed upon to act as banker. When only two play, the 
game may be scored on a pull-up cribbage board, and settled for 
at the end. 

PLAYERS. Any number from two to six persons may play, 
but four is the usual number, each playing for himself against all 
the others. The players on the dealer's right and left are known 
as the pone and the eldest hand, respectively. 

STAKES. The value of the counters must be agreed upon 
before play begins, and the method of settling should also be un- 
derstood, Sweepstake Hearts and Howell's Settling being entirely 
different games, and requiring totally different methods of play. 

CUTTING. If seven players assemble, it is usual to make 
up a table in which the dealer takes no cards. If there are more 
than seven candidates for play, two tables must be formed. 

Players draw from an outspread pack for the choice of seats and 
cards, the lowest cut having the first choice, and the others fol- 



252 (Hearts.) DEALING, 

lowing in their order. The player cutting the lowest card takes 
the first deal, which afterward passes in regular rotation to tne , 
left. 

In cutting, the ace is low. Any player exposing more than one 
card must cut again. 

TIES, If the first cut does not decide, those tying must cut 
again, but the new cut decides nothing but the tie. 

DEALING. Any player has the right to shuffle the pack, 
the dealer last. The cards are then presented to the pone to be 
cut, who must leave at least four in each packet. The cards are 
dealt from left to right, one at a time to each player in rotation 
until the pack is exhausted. No trump is turned. In Two- 
handed Hearts, the dealer stops when each player has received 
thirteen cards. The deal passes to the left. 

Misdealing, It is a misdeal if the dealer omits to have the 
pack cut, and the error is discovered before the last card is dealt ; 
if he deals a card incorrectly, and does not remedy the error be- 
fore dealing another ; or if he counts the cards on the table, or 
those remaining in the pack ; or if it is discovered before all have 
played to the first trick that any player has too many or too few 
cards. A misdeal loses the deal unless one of the other players 
has touched the cards, or has in any way interrupted the dealer. 

If any card is exposed by the dealer, the player to whom it is 
dealt may demand a new deal, provided he has not touched any 
of his cards. Any one dealing out of turn, or with the wrong 
cards, may be stopped before the last card is dealt. After that the 
deal stands good, and the packs, if changed, must so remain. 
. IRREGULAR HANDS, If, after the first trick has been 
played to, any two players are found to have more or less than 
their correct number of cards, the pack being perfect, the one hav- 
ing less must draw, face downward, from the hand of the one hav- 
ing more ; and each must pay five counters into the pool. 

OBJECTS OF THE GAME, As a general proposition, 
the object of each player is to avoid getting any hearts in the 
tricks he takes in. In some varieties of the game his object must 
be to take no hearts ; in others it will be to take less than his ad- 
versaries ; while in others it will be to take less than four. After 
a person has taken in one or more hearts, his object will be to 
load the others ; that is, to see that they get some hearts also ; or 
it may be to see that a given player takes at least one heart ; or 
that no one but himself takes any. The manner in which a person 
must vary his play in accordance with these different objects will 
be discussed when we come to the suggestions for good play. In 
the meantime, it is necessary to bear in mind only the general 
principle that the object of the game is to avoid winning any tricks 
that contain hearts. 



IRREGULARITIES. (Hearts.) 253 

METHOD OF FLAYING. The cards dealt, the player 
to the left of the dealer begins by leading any card he pleases, and 
the others must follow suit if they can. The highest card played, 
if of the suit led, wins the trick. There is no trump suit. If a 
player has none of the suit led, he may discard anything he 
pleases. The winner of the trick takes it in and leads for the next 
trick, and so on until all the cards have been played. The tricks 
themselves have no value as such, and need not be kept separate. 

Irregularities in Flay. . If any player omits to play to a trick, 
and plays to a following one, he is not allowed to correct his error, 
but is compelled to take the thirteenth or last trick, with whatever 
hearts it may contain. If a player^is found, during or at the end of 
a hand, to be a card short, all others at the table having their right 
number, and all having played to the first trick, the player with the 
short hand is compelled to take the last trick, with whatever 
hearts it may contain. 

Exposed Cards. Should a person lead or play two cards to 
one trick, he is allowed to indicate the one intended ; but he must 
leave the other face upward on the table. All exposed cards are 
liable to be called by any player at the table, and should one 
player call such a card, his decision is binding on the others. A 
player with an exposed card in front of him must play it when 
called upon, provided he can do so without revoking ; but he can- 
not be prevented from getting rid of the exposed card in the 
course of play, if the opportunity offers. 

Leading Out of Turn. Should a player lead out of turn, he 
may be called upon to lead or not to lead a heart when it is next 
his turn to lead. This penalty can be enforced only by the player 
on his right. If all have played to the false lead the error cannot 
be rectified ; but if all have not played, their cards must be taken 
back, and are not liable to be called. 

If any person plays out of turn in any trick, the player on his 
left, not having played, may demand that the card be taken back, 
and after the proper player has played the player in error may be 
called upon to play his highest or lowest of the suit led, or not to 
discard a heart. If the person on the left of the player in error 
was the leader in the trick, either he or the player whose proper 
turn it was to play may demand the penalty. 

Revoking. Any player failing to follow suit, when able to do 
so, may amend his error if he discovers his mistake before the 
trick in which it occurs has been turned and quitted. The card 
played in error then becomes an exposed card. Those who have 
played after him have the privilege of withdrawing their cards and 
substituting others, without penalty. Should the revoking player 
not discover his error in time, the hand must be played out, and if 
the revoke is detected and claimed the player in error must pay all 
the losses on that hand. Should the revoking player win the pool 



254 (Hearts.) SETTLING. 

himself, he must pay the thirteen counters to the pool, and leave 
them for a Jack. Should he divide the pool with another player, 
he must pay his co-winner six counters, and put up the other seven 
for a Jack. 

If two or more players revoke in the same hand, each must pay 
the entire losses in that hand as if he were alone in error ; so that 
if two should revoke and a third win the pool, the latter would re- 
ceive twenty-six counters instead of thirteen. In Auction Hearts, 
the revoking player must also refund the amount put up by the 
bidder. A revoke must be claimed and proved before the pool is 
divided. Non-compliance with a performable penalty is the same 
as a revoke. 

SETTLING. After the last card has been played, each 
player turns over his tricks, counts the number of hearts he has 
taken in, and announces it. Players should be careful not to 
gather or mix the cards until all thirteen hearts have been ac- 
counted for. Each player then pays into the pool for the number 
of hearts he has taken in, according to the system of settlement 
agreed upon before play began. The pool is then taken down by 
. the player or players winning it, and the deal passes to the left. 
The game is at an end any time the players wish to stop, after a 
hand has been^settled for ; but it is usual to agree upon some defi- 
nite hour. 

There are two ways of settling at the end of the hand, each of 
which has its good points. 

SWEEPSTAKE HEARTS. After the hand has been 
played, each player announces the number of hearts he has taken 
in, and pays into the pool one counter for each. All thirteen 
hearts having been paid for, any player having taken no hearts 
wins the entire pool ; two having taken none, divide it. If all the 
players have taken hearts, or if one player has taken all thirteen, 
the pool remains, and forms a Jack. This can be won only by a 
single player in some subsequent deal taking no hearts, all the 
others having taken at least one. These jack pools are of course 
increased thirteen counters every deal until some player wins the 
whole amount. Some clubs make it a Jack after two players have 
divided a pool, using the odd counter as a starter. It will be 
found that natural Jacks occur quite^frequently enough without re- 
sorting to this expedient. 

HOWELL'S SETTLING. The great objection to the 
method of settling at Sweepstake Hearts is that it makes the game 
almost entirely one of chance. No matter how good a player one 
may be, good luck alone will bring success. In a four-handed 
game it is possible for one player to take in only 58 hearts in 60 
deals, and still to be 46 counters behind ; while another player may 
take in 500 hearts in 60 deals and be 46 counters ahead. It may 
be claimed that the player who has 46 counters ahead at the end 



HOWELL'S SETTLING. (Hearts.) 255 

was the better player, because he won ; but most persons will agree 
that a player who takes in only 58 hearts in 60 deals is a much better 
player than one who has taken in 500 hearts in the same time. 

It was to remedy this defect, and to give skill its proper percent- 
age of value, that Mr. E. C. Howell of Boston proposed the man- 
ner of contributing to and dividing the pools which is now known 
as Howell's Settling. 

Each player begins with an equal number of counters, usually 
100. At the end of the hand, after the hearts have been counted 
and announced, each player pays into the pool, for every heart he 
holds, as many counters as there are players besides himself. 
For instance: A, B, C and D play. A takes three hearts; B 
and C five each, and D none. There being three players besides 
himself, A puts up three times three, or 9 counters. B and C put 
up 15 each, and D none; so that there are 39 in the pool. Each 
player then takes out of the pool 1 counter for every heart he did 
not hold when the hearts were announced. D, having taken no 
hearts, gets 13 counters. A, having taken three hearts only, is 
entitled to 10 counters for the 10 hearts he did not hold, while B 
and C get 8 each. This exhausts the pool. There are no Jacks 
in this way of settling. 

Matters may be facilitated by having counters of different col- 
ours, the white being the unit, and the red representing the num- 
ber which it will be necessary to pay for one heart. Practice will 
make the players so familiar with the amount of the various prof- 
its or losses that they simply pay or take what is due to them. 

The first time this is played it looks like a pretty severe game 
for a player who takes in a large number of hearts on one deal ; 
but it will be found that he rapidly recovers. During a sitting of 
any length the player who takes in the smallest number of hearts 
must be the winner. In the case mentioned in connection with 
Sweepstake Hearts, in which one player lost 46 counters while 
another won 46, in 60 deals, the result at Howell's Settling would 
have been that the player who took in only 58 hearts would be 548 
counters ahead instead of losing 46 ; while the one who took in 
500 hearts would lose 1220 counters, instead of winning 46. 

METHODS OF CHEATING* Under the rule for deal- 
ing the cards one at a time, the greek must be very skilful to se- 
cure any advantage at Hearts. But when it is the practice to deal 
the cards three at a time, and four on the last round, it is an easy 
matter to get four small hearts together on the bottom of the pack. 
Any person who is observed to hold three or four small hearts 
every time he deals, should be carefully watched, and it will usually 
be found that he gathers the small hearts from the hands of the 
other players while the pool is being divided. Marked cards are 
of little use to the greek at hearts, because so much depends on 
what a player holds, and so little on his play. 



256 (Hearts.) 

VARIETIES OF HEARTS. 

Before proceeding to suggestions for good play, it will be better 
to describe some of the variations of the game in common use, 
because what would be good play in one variation would not be in 
another. 

TWO-HANDED HEARTS. The two players having cut 
for the deal, thirteen cards are given to each, one at a time, and the 
remainder of the pack is left on the table, face down. The deal- 
er's adversary, usually called the pone, begins by leading any card 
he pleases, and the dealer must follow suit if he can, as in the or- 
dinary game. The winner of the trick takes it in, but before lead- 
ing for the next trick he draws one card from the top of the pack 
lying on the table, restoring the number of his cards to thirteen. 
His adversary then draws the next card, and the cards are played 
and drawn in this manner until the pack is exhausted. The thir- 
teen cards remaining in the hands of the two adversaries are then 
played, and after the last trick has been won, each turns over his 
. cards and counts the number of hearts he has taken in. The ob- 
ject of the game is to take fewer hearts than your opponent, and 
the method of settling is either for the greater number to pay the 
lesser the difference ; or, for the first six hearts taken by the loser 
to count nothing, but all above six to be paid for. The most pop- 
ular way is to peg up the difference on a cribbage board, and to 
settle at the end of the sitting. 

THREE-HANDED HEARTS. The deuce of spades is 
discarded, and seventeen cards are dealt to each player, one at a 
time, after which the game proceeds in the usual way. There are 
several methods of settling. Howell's method is undoubtedly the 
best, but Sweepstakes is very common. An excellent way is for 
the player who takes the largest number of hearts to pay the two 
others as many counters as he has hearts in excess of theirs. If 
two have an equal number, both pay the low man. There are no 
Jacks. 

A ZTCTION HEARTS. This is usually played by four per- 
sons, although five or six may form a table. After the cards have 
been dealt in the usual way, the player to the left of the dealer ex- 
amines his cards, and determines which suit he would prefer to 
play to get clear of. It may be that if the game were to get rid 
of clubs instead of hearts, his hand would be a very good one , 
whereas if the suit were to remain hearts it would be a very bad 
hand. As the pool will contain thirteen counters to a certainty, 
he can afford to pay something for the better chance he will have 
to win it if he is allowed to make clubs the suit to be avoided, in- 
stead of hearts. He bids whatever amount he is willing to pay for 



AUCTION HEARTS. (Hearts.) 257 

the privilege of changing the suit, without naming the suit he pre- 
fers. The next player then has a bid, and so on in turn, the 
dealer bidding last. There are no second bids. 

The player making the highest bid pays into the pool the amount 
he has bid. He then names the suit to be avoided, and leads for 
the first trick, regardless of his position with respect to the deal. 
The dealer's position is a great advantage, on account of its hav- 
ing the last bid. 

After the hand is played, those who have taken in any cards of 
the suit announced to be avoided, pay one counter to the pool for 
each of them. If any one player gets clear, each of the others 
having at least one of the tabooed suit, he takes the entire pool. 
If two get clear, they divide the pool, leaving any odd counter to 
form the basis of a Jack, as at Sweepstakes. If one player takes 
all thirteen, it is a Jack ; but instead of the next choice being sold 
to the highest bidder, the one who named the suit on the hand 
that made the pool a Jack has the choice of .suits again for the 
next deal, and he must select some suit without paying anything 
further for it, until some player wins what he paid for the choice 
in the first place. That is, the pool must be won before the choice 
can be sold again. 

The general principle of the game is for the players to combine 
, against the successful bidder, and to spare no effort to prevent him 
from winning the pool. 

SPOT HEARTS. In this variation, when the hearts are 
announced at the end of the hand, the spots on them are the units 
of value, the Jack being worth n, the Queen 12, the King 13, and 
the Ace 14. This adds nothing to the interest or skill of the 
game ; but rather tends to create confusion and delay, owing to 
the numerous disputes as to the correctness of the count. 

The total to be accounted for in each deal is 104. In settling, 
the player with the smallest number collects from each of the others 
the amount they have in excess of his. If two or more players 
have an equal number, or none at all, they divide the amount col- 
lected from each of the others. For instance : Four play, A has 8 
points, B 24, C 1 8, and D 54. As 8 points is the lowest, B pays 
A 16, C pays him 10, and D pays him 46. If A and B had 8 each, 
C 32, and D 56, C would pay 24, and D 48 ; and A-B would di- 
vide the amount between them. 

The chief variation in play arises from the fact that one who 
must win a heart trick cannot always afford to play his highest 
heart as in the ordinary game. 

tTOKEB HEABTS. In this variation, the heart deuce is 
discarded, and the Joker takes its place. The Joker occupies a 
position between the Jack and the Ten in value, with the added 
peculiarity that it cannot be discarded on a plain suit ; for if it is. 



258 (Hearts.) JOKER HEARTS. 

it wins the trick unless there is a higher heart in the same trick. 
If a player has the Joker dealt to him, his only chance to get rid of 
it is to play it on a trick in which hearts are led, or to discard it on 
a plain suit on which some other player has already discarded a 
higher heart than the Ten. Under such circumstances the 
holder of the Joker is allowed to discard it, even if he has one of 
the suit led, and the Joker being in the trick compels the player 
who discarded the higher heart to take it in. 

In settling, the Joker is worth five counters. If the player to 
whom it was dealt takes it in, he pays these five counters to the 
pool. If another player gets the Joker, he must pay the five 
counters to the player who got rid of it. The remainder of tr^e 
pool is then divided in the usual way. This is a most exasperating 
game. 

DISCARD HEARTS. This is sometimes called Black 
Jack, or Black Lady. If it is the Jack, it is worth ten hearts ; 
if it is the Queen, it is worth thirteen hearts. 

After the cards are dealt, each player in turn lays out three cards 
which he does not want, and the player on his left is obliged to 
take them, after having discarded himself. No player may look at 
what he is going to get until he has discarded himself. 

The Black Jack or Lady holds its rank as a spade when spades 
are led ; but the moment any other suit is led, of which the player is 
void, he can discard the Black Jack or Lady, just as he would get 
rid of a heart. If hearts are led and the player has no hearts, he 
can play the Black Jack or Lady to the trick, as it ranks below the 
deuce of hearts. 

PROGRESSIVE HEARTS. The general arrangements 
for the players and their positions are exactly the same as those 
already described in connection with Progressive Euchre. The 
players at each table cut for the deal, and play begins with the 
tap of the bell at the head table. Only one deal is played at each 
table. 

There are no counters. At the end of the hand the ladies com- 
pare their cards, and the one having the fewer hearts goes to the 
next higher table. The gentlemen then compare their cards in 
the same way, so that one lady and one gentleman go up from 
each table at the end of every hand. They take the seats vacated 
by those leaving the table they go to. All ties are determined by 
cutting, those cutting the lower cards going up. In cutting, the 
ace is low. 

Each player is provided with a score card, to which the gold, 
red and green stars are attached as in Euchre. The gold stars 
are given to those at the head table who have the fewest hearts. 
Those moving from other tables receive red stars ; and those tak- 
ing in the most hearts at the booby table receive green stars. 



HEARTSETTE. (Hearts.) 259 

Prizes are given to the ladies and gentlemen having the greatest 
number of each variety of star ; but the same player cannot win 
two prizes. If there is a tie in one class, the number of other stars 
must decide ; equal numbers of gold being decided by the major- 
ity of red on the same card ; red ties, by the greater number of 
gold ; and green ties by the fewest number of gold stars. 

HEAJRTSETTE. Heartsette differs from hearts only in, the 
addition of a widow. When four play, the spade deuce is deleted ; 
twelve cards are given to each player, and the three remaining 
form the widow, which is left face downward in the centre of the 
table. When any other number play, the full pack is used. If 
there are three players, three cards are left for the widow : two 
cards are left when five play, and four when six play. The player 
winning the first trick takes in the widow, with any hearts it may 
contain. He is entitled to look at these cards, but must not show 
or name them to any other player. The game then proceeds in 
the .usual way. Payments are made to the pool for all hearts 
taken in, and the pool is then won, divided, or remains to form a 
Jack, just as at Sweepstake Hearts. The chief difference in the 
game is that the other players do not know whether the winner of 
the first trick is loaded or not, and he is the only player who knows 
how many or what hearts are still to be played. 

DOMINO HEARTS, In this variation, six cards only are 
dealt to each player, the remainder of the pack being left face 
down on the table. When a player is unable to follow suit, he 
must draw cards from the stock, one at a time, until he can. The 
last player with any cards left in his hand must take what is left of 
the stock, if any. The hearts taken in are then counted as usual. 
Thirty-one points is game, and the winner is the player who has 
the least hearts scored when some other player reaches thirty-oneo 



SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD PLAY. 

A good player, after sorting his hand, carefully estimates its 
possibilities. The hand may be such that it is evidently impos- 
sible to avoid taking some hearts. The player must then decide 
whether he w r ill play to give each of the others hearts, or will take 
them all himself. If he succeeds in either object he has a chance 
to win back his money in the ensuing Jack. In deciding on his 
chances to get clear without taking a single heart, the player must 
first consider the advisability of beginning with a heart, or with a 
plain suit. If hearts, he should know the probability of the heart 
he leads not winning the trick ; if a plain suit, he should know the 
probability of the suit going round one or more times without 
hearts being discarded on it, especially if he intends to lead high 



260 (Hearts.) GOOD PLAY. 

cards. These chances must then be balanced one against the 
other and the more favourable selected. 

LEADING HEARTS ORIGINALLY. When your 
hearts are so small as to be absolutely safe, such as the 7 5 3 2, it 
might be supposed that the best play would be to lead them at 
once, in order to get a large number of hearts out of your way. 
But with such cards it is usually much better play, unless you have 
a very dangerous hand in plain suits, to reserve these small hearts 
until you have a more definite idea, from the fall of the cards, to 
whom you are giving them. Such cards are particularly useful for 
getting rid of the lead at dangerous stages in the end-game. 

When the plain-suit cards are high or dangerous, but the hearts 
are reasonably safe, it is usually better to lead the hearts, and to 
continue leading them every time you get in. By following these 
tactics it is quite possible for you to take almost every trick in the 
plain suits, and yet to win the poo* by rapidly exhausting the 
hearts. 

If you lead the 9 4, the only chance for it to win is that one 
player has no hearts, and that the 2 and 3 are divided. The odds 
against this combination of circumstances will vary with the num- 
ber of hearts you hold with the 4, but may be generally stated on 
the average as about 50 to 1. It is usually considered a safer lead 
than a high card of a plain suit, even if you have only three of the 
suit. 

If your only heart is the 5, and you propose to lead it, the 
chances that the 2, 3, and 4 are not each in separate hands are 
about 19 in 25, or 19 to 6 against it, which is about 3 to 1. If you 
lead the 5, the odds against your winning the trick decrease as the 
number of hearts you hold with the 5 increases. If you have four 
hearts, the 5 being the lowest, the odds against its winning the 
trick, if you lead it, are about 29 to 11. If you have eight hearts, 
the 5 being the lowest, it is about an even chance. If your only 
heart is the 6, it is about an even chance that it will win the trick ; 
but the odds against you increase rapidly with the number of addi- 
tional hearts that you hold. If you propose to lead the 7, the 
chances that it will win the trick are 2 to 1 under the most favour- 
able circumstances, which are when it is your only heart. These 
odds against you increase rapidly with the number of additional 
hearts that you hold. 

LEADING PLAIN SUITS ORIGINALLY. It will 
often happen that you will have to decide between the lead of a 
comparatively dangerous heart and a risky plain suit. Your knowl- 
edge of probabilities should enable you to select the safer course. 
The odds against getting a heart on the first round of a plain suit 
depend upon how many cards of the suit you hold. If you lead 
an Ace, or any card which is sure to win the trick, the odds^gainst 
your getting a heart on it are as the following : — 



GOOD PLAY. 



(Hearts.) 261 



If you have 4 cards of the suit, 22 to 1. 

5 " 15 to 1. 
"6 " 7 to 1. 

7 " 4 to 1. 

8 " 2 to 1. 

These odds may be slightly increased by taking into account 
the fact that players who cannot follow suit do not always discard 
hearts, having perhaps more dangerous cards to get rid of. 

The odds against a suit going round a second time may be in- 
fluenced by the cards played to the first round ; but it sometimes 
happens that you have to calculate in advance for two rounds of a 
suit, regardless of the cards that may be played by others. This 
is especially the case when you fear that the suit will be led to 
you, and you have such cards as must win two rounds. If you 
have 4 cards of the suit the odds against your getting a heart in 
two rounds are 2 to 1. The odds in favour of your getting a 
heart in two rounds are : — 

If you have 5 cards of the suit, 4 to 3. 

6 2 to 1. 

7 « 6 to 1. 

As an example of the value of a thorough knowledge of these 
odds to a careful player, suppose he had to win two rounds of a 
plain suit, of which he held six cards ; or to lead the V 7, having 
three higher. The suit would be the better play, because it takes 
in only one heart, while the lead of the heart might take in four. 

The following table shows the exact number of times in 1,000 
deals that a heart would probably be discarded on a plain suit led, 
according to the number of cards in the suit held by the leader, 
and the number of times the suit was led : 



Cards held by the leader. 


1, 2, 3, 4 


5 


6 


7 


8 


Times hearts will be dis- 
carded : — 
On first round. 


44 
358 
842 


63 
430 
1000 


122 
659 
1000 


200 

857 
1000 


315 

1000 
1000 


On second round 

On third round 



This shows that 158 times in 1,000, when the leader has 1, 2, 3, 
or 4 cards of the suit, it will go round three times, because 158 is 
the balance necessary to bring our last figure, 842, up to 1,000. 
Reducing this to a small fraction, the odds are about 5^ to 1 that 
a suit will not go round three times without affording to some 
player the chance of discarding hearts on it. This calculation 
shows the hopeless nature of all hands that contain at least three 
cards of each suit, unless the smallest card in every suit is below a 
6 ; for if any one of the suits is led three times, it is even betting 
that you will have to win the third round, and 5£ to 1 that you get 
a heart on it if you do. 



262 (Bezique.) 



THE BEZIQUE FAMILY. 



This family includes three of our most popular games ; Bezique 
itself, Binocle, and Sixty-Six. These are all comparatively modern 
games, but are descended from very old stock, the best known of 
the ancestors being Marriage, Matrimony, and Cinq-Cents. The 
etymology of the word Bezique is very much disputed. Some 
claim that it is from the Spanish basa, afterwards basico, a little 
kiss ; referring to the union of the spade Queen and the diamond 
Jack, and the various marriages in the game. This was afterwards 
Basique, transformed by the French to Besique, and by the Eng- 
lish to Bezique. One English writer thinks the word is from 
besaigne, the double-headed axe. < 

Judging from the rank of the cards, which is peculiar to German 
games, Bezique may have originated in an attempt to play Binocle 
with a piquet pack, for Binocle seems to have been originally 
played with a full pack of fifty-two cards. One German writer 
says the game is of Swiss origin, and that they probably got it from 
Spain. In one writer's opinion, the name Binocle, is derived from 
bis, until, and knochle, the knuckle, which would imply that the 
original meaning was, until some one knuckled ; i. e„ stopped the 
game by knocking on the table with his knuckles. This interpreta- 
tion seems far-fetched, but if correct, it would sustain the opinion 
that Binocle was derived from the old game of Cinq-Cents, in which 
the player knocked with his knuckles to announce that he had made 
enough points to win the game. In the opinion of the author, the 
word " binocle " is a German mispronunciation of the French 
word " binage," which was the term used in Cinq Cents for the 
combination of spade Queen and diamond Jack, as will be seen if 
the description of Cinq Cents is referred to. Stopping the play is 
a prominent feature in Sixty-Six, another variation of Bezique, and 
the connecting link between Binocle and Skat. In Sixty-Six, the 
combination known as Bezique, or binocle, is omitted ; so is the 
sequence in trumps. Sixty-four-card Binocle is simply Be"zique, 
with a slight difference in the counting value of the various com- 
binations. Sometimes twelve cards are given to each player. 

Great confusion seems to have existed when the game of Be'zique 
was introduced to England, in the winter of 1868-9, owing to the 
fact that so many persons rushed into print with their own private 
opinions of the rules, which were first given by Dr. Pole, in 1861, 



THE BEZIQUE FAMILY. (Bezique.) 263 

No one knew whether " the last trick " was the absolute last, or 
the last before the stock was exhausted. Whether the highest or 
lowest cut dealt was also a matter of dispute. " Cavendish " got 
both these wrong in the first edition of his " Pocket Guide," but 
corrected himself without explanation or apology in the second 
edition. It was then the custom of many players to attach no 
value to the trump suit until the stock was exhausted ; so that 
until the last eight tricks there was no such thing as trumping a 
trick in order to win it. Disputes also arose as to counting double 
combinations, many contending that a double marriage should be 
as valuable as a double bezique. Time and experience have 
finally settled all these points, and the rules of the game are now 
practically uniform in all countries. 



BEZIQUE, 

OR SIXTY-FOUR-CARD BINOCLE. 

There are two forms of Bezique in common use ; the ordinary 
game, which will be first described, and the variation known as 
Rubicon Bezique, which is to Bezique proper what Railroad 
Euchre is to Euchre. 

CARDS. Bezique is played with two packs of thirty-two 
cards each, all below the Seven being deleted, and the two packs 
being then shuffled together and used as one. It is better to have 
both packs of the same colour and pattern, but it is not absolutely 
necessary. The cards rank, A10KQJ987; the Ace being the 
highest, both in cutting and in play. 

COUNTERS. Special markers are made for scoring at 
Bezique ; but the score may easily be kept by means of counters. 




Pull-Up Bezique Marker. 

Each player should be provided with four white, four blue, and 
one red, together with some special marker, such as a copper cent 
or a button. The button stands for 500 points, each blue counter 
for 100, the red for 50, and the white ones for 10 each. At the 
beginning of the game the counters are placed on the left of the 
player, and are passed from left to right as the points accrue, ex- 
changing smaller denominations for higher when necessary. 



264 (Bizique.) DEALING. 

Many persons find it more convenient to peg the game on a 
pull-up cribbage board, starting at 21, counting each peg as 10 
points, and going twice round to the game hole. 

STAKES, Bezique is played for so much a game, 1,000 
points up ; or for so much a point, the score of the loser being 
deducted from that of the winner. When a partie of five games 
is agreed upon, it is usual to have an extra stake upon the odd 
game, and when three games have been won by the same player, 
the partie is at an end. It is usual to count it a double game if 
the loser has not reached 500 points. 

DLAYEJRS, Bezique is played by two persons, one of 
whom is known as the dealer, and the other as the pone- 
They cut for choice of seats and deal, the player cutting the 
highest card having the first choice, and electing whether or not 
to deal himself. In cutting, the cards rank as in play, and the ace 
is the highest. If a player exposes more than one card, he must 
cut again. 

DEALING, The cams are thoroughly shuffled, and pre- 
sented to the pone to be cut. At least five cards must be left in 
each packet. The cards are then dealt three at a time for the first 
round, two for the next, and three for the last, each player receiv- 
ing eight cards. The seventeenth is then turned up for the trump. 
If this card is a Seven, the dealer scores 10 points for it at once. 
The trump card is laid on the table by itself, the remainder of the 
pack, which is called the stock or talon, is slightly spread, to 
facilitate the process of drawing cards from it, and to be sure that 
none of the cards remaining in the undealt portion are exposed. 
In sixty-four-card Binocle twelve cards are sometimes dealt to 
each player. 

Misdealing, A misdeal does not lose the deal, but in some 
cases a new deal is at the option of the adversary. If the dealer 
exposes a card belonging to the adversary or to the stock, the pone 
may demand a new deal ; but if either player exposes any of his 
own cards, the deal stands good. If too many cards are given to 
either player, there must be a new deal. If too few, the pone may 
claim a fresh deal, or allow the dealer to supply the missing cards 
from the top of the stock, without changing the trump card. If 
any card but the trump is found faced in the pack, there must be a 
new deal. If a card faced in the stock is not discovered until the 
first trick has been played to, the exposed card must be turned 
face down, without disturbing its position. If a pack is found to 
be imperfect, the deal in which the error is discovered is void, but 
all previous cuts or scores made with that pack stand good. 

METHOD OF PLATING, The pone begins by leading 
any card he chooses, to which his adversary may play any card he 
pleases. A player is not obliged to follow suit, nor to trump ; but 



METHOD OF PLAYING. (Beziqtie.) 265 

may renounce or trump at pleasure until the stock is exhausted, 
after which the method of play undergoes a change. If a player 
follows suit, the higher card wins the trick, and if identical cards 
are played to the same trick, such as two Jacks of clubs, the leader 
wins, Trumps win plain suits. The winner of the trick takes in 
the cards, turning them face down ; but before he leads for the 
next trick he has the privilege of announcing and scoring any one 
of certain combinations that he may hold in his hand. After, or 
in the absence of any such announcement, and before leading for 
the next trick, he draws a card from the top of the stock and places 
it in his hand, without showing or naming it. His adversary draws 
the next card, so that each player restores the number of cards in 
his hand to eight. This method of drawing from the stock is 
open to many objections, and in France the pone always draws 
first, no matter who wins the trick. 

All combinations announced and scored must be laid face up- 
ward on the table ; but the cards still form part of the player's 
hand, and may be led or played at any time, although they must 
not again be taken in hand until the stock is exhausted. 

OBJECTS OF THE GAME. The reasons for winning 
or not winning certain tricks will be better understood in connec- 
tion with the description of the various combinations that count 
toward game, and the manner of scoring them. 

Hrisques. The aces and Tens of each suit are called brisques, 
and count ten points each towards game. Except for the purpose 
of getting or keeping the lead, there is no object in winning any 
trick which does not contain a brisque. Every brisque taken in 
should be scored at once by the player winning the trick; 10 points 
for an ace or Ten ; 20 points if there are two such cards in the 
same trick. 

A player holding or drawing the Seven of trumps has the privi- 
lege of exchanging it for the turn-up trump, and scoring 10 points 
at the same time ; but he must make the exchange immediately 
after winning a trick, and before drawing his card from the stock. 
Should the turn-up card be a Seven, or one exchange have already 
been made, the exchange can still be made and scored. He can- 
not score the Seven and make a declaration at the same time. 

DECLARATIONS, The combinations which may be an- 
nounced and scored during the play of the hand are divided into 
three classes : Marriages and Sequences ; Beziques ; and Fours of 
a kind. Only one combination can be scored at a time, and it 
must be announced immediately after the player holding it has 
won a trick, and before he draws his card from the talon. If he 
draws without announcing, it is equivalent to saying he has no 
declaration to make. Having drawn his card, even if he has not 
looked at it, he cannot score any declaration until he wins another 
trick. 



266 (Bezique.) DECLARATIONS. 

The combinations and their values are as follows : — 

CLASS A 

King and Queen of any plain suit, Marriage . 20 

King and Queen of trumps, Royal Marriage . 40 
Sequence of five highest trumps, Sequence . 250 

CLASS B. 

Spade Queen and diamond Jack, JSezique . 40 

Two spade Queens and diamond Jacks, Double 

B6zique ..... 500 

CLASS C. 
Any four Aces . .... 100 

Any four Kings. .... 80 

Any four Queens . . . . .60 

Any four Jacks .... 40 

The four court cards in class C may be all of different suits, or 
any two of them may be of the same suit. 

A great many misunderstandings arise with respect to the man- 
ner and order of making declarations, most of which may be 
avoided by remembering the following rules : 

The player making the declaration must have won the previous 
trick, and must make his announcement before drawing his card 
from the stock. When the stock is exhausted, so that there is no 
card to be drawn, no announcement can be made. 

Only one declaration can be scored at a time, so that a trick 
must be won for every announcement made, or the combination 
cannot be scored. This does not prevent a player from making 
two or more announcements at the same time, but he can score 
only one of them. 

A player cannot make a lower declaration with cards which form 
part of a higher one already made in the same class. For in- 
stance : Marriages and sequences belong to the same class. If 
the sequence has been declared, a player cannot take from it the 
King and Queen and score a marriage ; neither can he add a ndw 
Queen to the King already in the sequence, and announce a mar- 
riage ; because the higher combination was scored first. ^But it 
the marriage is first announced, the A jo J may be added and the 
sequence scored, after winning another trick. 

Cards once used in combination cannot again be used in com- 
binations of equal value of the same class. For instance : Four 
Kings have been declared, and one of them afterward used in the 
course of play. The player cannot add a new King to the three 
remaining, and announce four Kings again. A marriage in spades 
has been declared, and the King got rid of in play. A new King 



DECLABATIOJSfS. 



(Bezique.) 267 



of spades will not make another marriage with the old Queen. A 
b6zique has been scored, and the Jack got rid of in play ; a new 
Jack of diamonds will not make another bezique with the old 
Queen. 

~Some judgment is necessary in making announcements, the 
question of time being often important. Suppose hearts are 
trumps, and the winner of the trick holds double bezique, sixty 
Queens, and a royal marriage : — 




He cannot lay all these cards down at once, and claim 600 
points. Neither can he lay down four Queens and two Jacks, 
and score 560 ; nor four Queens and a King and score 100. He 
may announce them if he chooses to expose his hand in that man- 
, ner, but he can score only one combination, and must win a sepa- 
rate trick to score each of the others. It would be better for him 
to select some one of the combinations, and declare it, waiting un- 
til he won another trick to declare the next one. A beginner 
would be apt to declare the highest count first, 500 for the double 
bezique ; but under the rule which prevents a player from making 
a declaration which forms part of a higher one of the same class 
already made, he would lose the 40 points for the single bezique. 
It would be better to declare the single bezique first, scoring 40 
points for it, and after winning another trick to show the other 
bezique, scoring 500 points more for the double combination. A 
player is not allowed to score 40 for the second bezique, and then 
500 for the two combined ; because if new announcements are 
made in the same class, at least one new card must be added 
from the player's hand when the announcement is made, even if it 
is not scored until later. 

Double Declarations, It frequently happens that a player 
is forced to make two declarations at the same time, although he 
can score only one of them. For instance : A player has an- 
nounced and shown four Kings, one of them being the King of 
spades. On winning another trick he shows and scores bezique. 
One of the bezique cards forms a marriage with the spade King, 
and as the combinations belong to different classes, both may be 
scored, although the same card is used in each ; but the player 
cannot score the second combination until he wins another trick. 
Under such circumstances it is usual to declare both combinations, 
scoring the more valuable, and repeating the one left over until 
an opportunity arises to score it. In this case the player would 



268 (Bezique.) DECLARATIONS. 

say : " Forty for bezique, and twenty to score." If he lost the 
next trick he would continue to repeat at every trick : " Twenty to 
score," until he won a trick. 

A player having a score in abeyance in this manner is not 
obliged to score it if he has anything else to announce. A player 
with twenty to score might pick up the sequence in trumps before 
he won another trick, and he would be very foolish to lose the chance 
to score 250 for the sake of the 20 already announced. If he had 
time, he would probably declare : " Royal Marriage, forty, and 
twenty to score." On winning another trick he would add the A 
10 J of trumps, and announce, " Two-fifty in trumps, and twenty 
to score," still carrying on the small score for a future opportunity. 

A player may lay down and score eighty Kings, and afterward 
sixty Queens, the remaining Kings forming marriages. In such a 
case he would score the sixty points first, and declare the two or 
three marriages remaining. In the same manner he may have 
announced four Kings, and after playing away two of them, leav- 
ing two Kings of spades, he may declare double bezique, and 
claim the two marriages " to score." In all such cases it must 
be remembered that the cards declared must still be on the table 
when the time comes to score them. If, in the case just given, one 
of the cards forming either of the marriages was got rid of in the 
course of play, that marriage could not afterward be scored, 
although it had been properly announced. If the stock is ex- 
hausted before the player with a score in abeyance can win another 
trick, the score is lost. 

It is often very important for a player to know how much time 
he has to score. When the talon is spread it is comparatively easy 
to judge how many more tricks remain to be played. The Eng- 
lish laws allow a player to count the stock, the French do not. A 
trick once turned and quitted cannot again be seen, and the 
players are not allowed to count the number of tricks they have 
won. 

The last card of the stock is taken by the player winning the 
trick, and the turn-up trump goes to his adversary. 

The Last Eight Tricks, When the stock is exhausted, the 
players take back into their hands all the cards remaining of the 
combinations which have been laid on the table. The winner of 
the previous trick then leads any card he pleases, but his adver- 
sary must now not only follow suit,^but must win the trick if he can, 
either with a superior card of the same suit, or with a trump. 
The same rule applies to all the remaining tricks. Brisques still 
count for the winner of the trick containing them, and should be 
scored as soon as made. The winner of the last trick of all scores 
ten points for it immediately, in addition to any brisques that it 
may contain. 



(Rubicon.) 269 

FOUR-HANDED BEZIQUE. 

In this variation, four persons may play ; each for himself or 
two against two, partners sitting opposite each other. Four packs 
of thirty-two cards each are shuffled together and used as one. 
Triple bezique counts 1500. When a player wins a trick, either he 
or his partner may declare everything in the hand, but only one 
combination can be scored at a time. The advantage of showing 
all the combinations in the hand is that they may be built up by 
either partner. For instance : One partner has declared bezique 
and royal marriage, scoring the marriage only. His partner wins 
the next trick and adds A 10 J to the marriage, scoring the se- 
quence ; or perhaps shows three Kings or Queens, making fours. 

The players usually divide after the stock is exhausted, and for 
the last eight tricks each takes one of his former adversaries for a 
partner, but without changing seats. The game is usually 2000 
points up. 

THREE-HANDED BEZIQUE. 

Three persons play, each for himself. Two packs of thirty-two 
cards each and one of thirty-one cards are shuffled together. 
Triple bezique counts 1500, and the game is usually 2000 points. 

The deleted card from the third pack should be an Eight. 

RUBICON BEZIQUE. 

Rubicon Bezique bears the same relation to the ordinary game 
that Railroad Euchre does to Euchre proper. In fact the game 
might well be called Railroad Bezique, for its chief peculiarity is the 
rapid accumulation of large scores. The game seems to have 
originated in France, but is now very popular wherever Bezique is 
played. 

CARDS, Rubicon Bezique is played with four piquet packs 
of thirty-two cards each ; all below the Sevens being deleted from 
an ordinary pack. The four packs, which should be of the same 
pattern and colour, are shuffled together and used as one. The 
cards rank : A 10 K Q J 9 8 7, the ace being the highest, both in 
cutting and in play. 

MARKERS. The game may be kept on a bezique marker, a 
pull-up cribbage board, or with counters. Markers must be made 
to score at least 5000 points. When a cribbage board is used, it is 
usual to count the outside row of pegs as 10 each, the inner row 
as 100 each, and the game pegs in the centre as 1000 each. If 
counters are used, there must be for each player ; four white, to 
mark io's ; one red to mark 50 ; nine blue to mark ioo's ; and four 



270 (Rubicon.) DEALING. 

coppers to mark iooo each. These counters are moved from left 
to right of the player as the points accrue. In whatever manner 
. the count is kept, it should be distinctly visible to both persons, as 
playing to the score is very important. 

STAKES, Rubicon Bezique is played for so much a hundred 
points, and in settling up, all fractions of a hundred are disregarded, 
unless they are necessary to decide the game. Ten cents a hun- 
dred is the usual stake ; sixpence in England. Games are seldom 
worth less than one or two thousand points. 

PLAYEHS. Rubicon Bezique is played by two persons, one 
of whom is known as the dealer, and the other as the pone. 
They cut for seats and deal, the player cutting the higher card 
having first choice, and electing whether or not to deal himself. 
In cutting, the cards rank as in play, the ace being the highest. 
If a player exposes more than one card, he must Cut again. 

DEALING. The cards are thoroughly shufHed, and pre- 
sented to the pone to be cut. At least five cards must be left in 
each packet. The dealer then distributes the cards three at a time, 
first to his adversary and then to himself, for three rounds, so that 
each player receives nine cards. No trump is turned ; but the first 
marraige declared and scored is the trump suit for that deal." The 
undealt portion of the pack, called the stock or talon, is slightly 
spread between the two players, and a little to the left of the dealer. 
If in spreading the stock any card is found to be exposed, there 
must be a new deal by the same dealer. 

Misdealing. A misdeal does not lose the deal, but 'in some 
cases a new deal is at the option of the pone. If the dealer ex- 
poses a card belonging to his adversary or to the stock, the pone 
may demand a new deal ; but if either player exposes any of his 
own cards, the deal stands good. If too many cards are given to 
either player, and the error is discovered before the dealer plays 
to the first trick, there must be a new deal. If either player has 
too few cards, the pone may demand a new deal, or may allow the 
dealer to supply the deficiency from the top of the stock. If any 
card is found exposed in the pack, there must be a new deal. If 
any card faced in the stock is not discovered until the first trick 
has been played to by the dealer, the exposed card must be turned 
face down, without disturbing its position. If the pack is found to 
be imperfect, the deal in which it is discovered is void ; but all 
previous scores or cuts made with that pack stand good. 

METHOD OF PLAYING., The pone takes up and ex- 
amines his nine cards. If he finds* himself without King, Queen 
or Jack of any suit, he immediately shows his hand to the dealer, 
and marks fifty points for carte blanche. Whether he has carte 
blanche or not, he begins the play by leading any card he pleases. 
If the dealer has carte blanche, he must show and score it before 



DECLARING. (Rubicon,) 271 

playing to the first trick. Players are not obliged to follow suit, 
nor to trump ; but may renounce or trump at pleasure until the 
stock is exhausted.-after which the method of play undergoes a 
change. Until the first marriage is declared and scored there is 
no trump suit. If the second player in any trick follows suit, the 
higher card wins. Trumps win plain suits. If identical cards are 
played to the same trick, such as two club aces, the leader wins. 

The tricks are left face upward on the table until an ace or 
Ten is played, for tricks not containing either of these cards are of 
no value. When an ace or Ten is played, the winner of the trick 
gathers in all the cards that have accumulated, and turns them 
face down in front of him. These counting cards are called 
brisques, and if a player neglects to gather the brisques he wins, 
his adversary may do so when next he wins a trick, whether the 
trick he wins contains a brisque or not ; the fact that there is a 
brisque on the table is sufficient. 

Declaring. The winner of any trick, before leading for the 
next trick, has the privilege of announcing and scoring any one of 
certain combinations that he may hold in his hand. After, or in the 
absence of any such announcement, and before leading for the 
next trick, he draws one card from the top of the stock, and places 
it in his hand, without showing or naming it. His. adversary then 
draws the next card, so that each restores the number of cards in 
his hand to nine. This method of playing, announcing, and draw- 
ing is continued until the stock is exhausted. 

If a player who has already announced carte blanche finds that 
the first card he draws from the stock is not a King, Queen or 
Jack, he show's it to his adversary, and scores another fifty points 
for another carte blanche. This may be continued until he draws 
one of those cards. Carte blanche cannot be scored at all unless 
held before a card is played ; that is, it must be dealt to the player 
originally. 

All combinations announced and scored must be left face up- 
ward on the table, but the cards still form part of the player's 
hand, and may be led or played at any time, although they must 
not again be taken in hand until the stock is exhausted. 

The first marriage announced and scored, no matter by which 
player, makes the trump suit for that deal ; but a player with a 
marriage on the table is not obliged to announce it if he does not 
wish to make that suit the trump. 

Irregularities in Play. If a player leads out of turn, and 
his adversary plays to the lead, whether intentionally or otherwise, 
the trick stands good. If the adversary calls attention to the error, 
the card led out of turn may be taken back without penalty. 

If, after playing to the first trick, one player is found to have 
more than his right number of cards, the English rules say that 
the game is to be immediately abandoned, and the adversary of the 



272 (Rubicon.) IRREGULARITIES. 

player in error is to add 1300 points to his score at the time the 
error is discovered, together with all the points already scored by 
the player in error , but the latter amount must not exceed 900. 

The same penalties are enforced if one player has too many 
cards and the other too few ; but in the latter case the hand is 
played out, the player not in fault scoring all he can. 

If both players have more than their right number of cards, the 
deal is void. If either has less than his proper number, his adver- 
sary having the right number, the deal stands good, and there is 
no penalty except that the player with the right number of cards 
wins and scores for the last trick. If both have less than the right 
number, the deal stands good, and the actual winner of the last 
trick scores it. 

It will be observed that these rules are quite different from the 
French rules, which have been given in connection with the ordi- 
nary game of B6zique. In France, it is always the custom to estab- 
lish the status quo, if possible, and to assume that the error was 
quite unintentional. In England, all laws are based on the assump- 
tion that your adversary is a rogue, and the penalties are absurdly 
severe, but we have no authority to change them. 

Irregularities in Drawing. If a player has forgotten to 
take his card from the talon, and has played to the next "trick, the 
English laws compel him to play the remainder of the hand with 
eight cards ; the French laws give his adversary the, option of call- 
ing the deal void, or allowing the player in error to draw two cards 
from the stock next time. 

If a player draws two cards from the stock, instead of one, he 
must show the second one to his adversary if he has seen it himself. 
If it was his adversary's card, he must show his own card also. If 
he has not seen it, he may put it back without penalty. If he 
draws out of turn, he must restore the card improperly drawn, and 
if it belongs to his adversary, the player in error must show his 
own card. If both players draw the wrong cards, there is no 
remedy. 

If the loser of any trick draws and looks at two cards from the 
stock, his adversary may look at both cards of the following draw, 
and may select either for himself. If he chooses the second card, 
he need not show it. 

If, on account of some undetected irregularity, an odd number of 
cards remain in the stock, the last card must not be drawn. 

OBJECTS OF THE GAME. Each game is complete in 
one deal, and the score of the loser is deducted from that of the 
winner. The combinations which may be declared and scored art 
the same as in Bezique, but owing to the use of four packs of 
cards double combinations are much more frequent, and triple 
combinations are not uncommon. 



DECLARATIONS. (Rubicon.) 273 

The chief concern of the player must be, first of all, to save him- 
self from a rubicon ; that is, either to reach iooo points, or to score 
as few points as possible. If he does not reach iooo, his adversary 
will take whatever he has scored, and add them to his own, besides 
1300 in addition for rubicon and brisques. For instance: At the 
end of the hand A has scored 1 200, and B has only 700. B is 
rubiconed, and his 700 points are added to A's 1200, together with 
1300 more for a rubicon game and brisques ; giving A a grand 
total of 3200 points to nothing. Had B reached iooo, he would 
have saved his rubicon, and A would have scored the difference 
only, or 200 points, plus 500 for the game ; 700 altogether. 

Brisqtles, The aces and Tens of each suit are of no value 
unless it is necessary to count them to decide a tie, or to save a 
rubicon. They are never scored during the play of the hand. 

Declarations, The combinations which may be announced 
and scored during the play of the hand are divided into three 
classes : A, Marriages and Sequences ; B, Beziques ; and C, Fours. 
Only one combination can be scored at a time, and it must be an- 
nounced and laid on the table immediately after the player hold- 
ing it has won a trick, and before he draws his card from the 
talon. If he draws without announcing, it is equivalent to saying 
he has no declaration to make. Having drawn his card, even if he 
has not looked at it, he cannot score any declaration until he wins 
another trick. The various combinations and their values are as 
follows : * 

CLASS A. 

King and Queen in any plain suit, Marriage . . 20 

King and Queen of trumps, Royal Marriage . 40 

Five highest cards in -a plain suit, Sequence . . 150 

Five highest cards in trumps, Royal Sequence . 250 

CLASS B. 

Spade Queen and Diamond Jack, Single Bezique . 40 
Two spade Queens and diamond Jacks, Double Bezique 500 
Three spade Queens and diamond Jacks, Triple Bezique 1500 
Four spade Queens and diamond Jacks, Quadruple Be- 
zique ....... 4500 

CLASS C. 

Any four Aces • . • • • . 100 

Any four Kings • • • .« • .80 

Any four Queens • • • • 60 

Any four Jacks • • • « . 40 



274 (Rubicon.) DECLARATIONS. 

Besides the foregoing, there is the score of fifty points for carte 
blanche, which may be announced only before the first trick is 
played to, and the score of fifty points for the winner of the last 
trick of all. 

In class A, the first marriage declared must of course count 40,. 
as it is the trump suit for that deal. In class C, the four court 
cards may be of different suits, or any two or more of them may 
be of the same suit. 

The rules governing declarations are as follows : — 

The player making the declaration must have won the previous 
trick, and must make his announcement before drawing his card 
from the stock. When the stock is exhausted, so that no cards 
remain to be drawn, no announcements can be made. 

Only one declaration can be scored at a time, so that a trick 
must be won for every announcement made, or the combination 
cannot be scored. This rule does not prevent a player from mak- 
ing two or more announcements at the same time ; but he can 
score only one of them. 

A player cannot make a lower declaration with cards which form 
part of a higher combination already shown in the same class. 
For instance : — Marriages and sequences belong to the same class. 
If a sequence has been declared, the player cannot take from it 
the King and Queen, and score for the marriage ; neither can he 
add a new Queen to the King already used in the sequence, be- 
cause the higher combination was scored first. The same rule 
applies to lower and higher beziques. But if the lower combina- 
" tion is first shown and scored — the marriage — the A 10 J may be 
added afterward, on winning another trick, and the sequence 
scored. This rule does not apply to cards belonging to com- 
binations in different classes. A Queen used in class A may be 
used over again in both B and C classes. 

He-forming Combinations. The chief peculiarity in Rubi- 
con Bezique is that combinations which have been laid on the 
table and scored may be broken up, re-formed, and scored again 
indefinitely. For instance : A player has declared royal se- 
quence, and scored 250 points for it. He may play away the Ace, 
breaking up the sequence, and upon winning the trick lay down 
another Ace, re-forming the sequence, and scoring 250 points 
again. He might repeat the same process with the Ten, King, 
Queen and Jack, and in six successive tricks he would score this 
royal sequence six times, making 1 500 points out of it. In actual 
play it is not necessary to go through the formality of playing 
away a card from the combination on the table, and then replac- 
ing it, for it amounts to the same thing if the new card in the 
hand is led or played, and the fresh combination claimed. 

Marriages, beziques and fours may be broken up and re-formed 
in the same way. After declaring 100 Aces, the player may lead 



COMBINATIONS. Rubicon.) 275 

or play another Ace, and claim another ioo Aces, scoring them 
when he wins a trick. In this way, eight Aces actually held might 
score 500 points. In the bezique combinations, a new card simply 
re-forms the single bezique. In order to score double, triple, or 
quadruple bezique, all the cards forming the combination must be 
on the table at one time, but they may be played and scored one 
after the other, cumulatively. For instance : A player holding 
quadruple bezique and showing all eight cards at once would score 
4500 only ; the minor beziques would be lost. If he had time, and 
could win tricks enough, he might show the single first, scoring 
40, then the double, scoring 500, then the triple, scoring 1500, and 
finally the quadruple, scoring 4500, which would yield him a grand 
total of 6540 points. He might declare marriage in hearts, and 
afterward play three more heart Queens, scoring each marriage, 
and then three heart Kings, scoring three more marriages. These 
would all be new combinations. 

Double Declarations. These are carried forward in the 
manner already described for the ordinary game. Suppose a 
player has two spade Kings on the table, and shows double be-. 
zique. He of course marks the more valuable score, 500, and 
simply claims the marriages by saying : " With twenty and twenty 
to score." On winning another trick he is not compelled to score 
the previous announcement if he has any other or better to make. 
He might have two more Queens, and would announce: "Sixty 
Queens, with twenty and twenty to score." If he scores one of 
the announcements held over, he still carries on the other. 

When announcements are carried forward in this manner, it 
must be remembered that the cards must still be on the table 
when the time comes to score them. If one of them has been led 
or played, or the stock is exhausted before the player wins another 
trick, the score held over is lost. _ 

Time. On account of the great number of combinations pos- 
sible at Rubicon Bezique, it is very seldom that a player succeeds 
in scoring everything he holds. He is allowed to count the cards 
remaining in "the talon, provided he does not disturb their order. 
This count is often important toward the end of the hand. For 
instance : You know from the cards you hold, and those played, 
that your adversary must have in his hand the cards that will make 
a double bezique on the table into a triple bezique, which would 
give him 1500 points. If, on counting the stock, you find- only six 
cards remain, and you have three certain winning trumps to lead, 
you can shut out his 1 500 by exhausting the stock before he can 
win a trick. 

Irregular Announcements. If a player announces a com- 
bination which he does not show ; such as fours, when he has 
only three, which he may easily do by mistaking a Jack for a King, 



276 (Rubicon.) SCORING. 

his adversary can compel him not only to take down the score er- 
roneously marked, but to lead or play one of the three Kings. 
A player may be called upon to lead or play cards from other er- 
roneous declarations in the same manner ; but if he has the right 
card or cards in his hand, he is permitted to amend his error, pro- 
vided he has not drawn a card from the stock in the meantime. 

The Last Nine Tricks. When the stock is exhausted, all 
announcements are at an end, and the players take back into their 
hands all the cards upon the table which may remain from the 
combinations declared in the course of play. The winner of the 
previous trick then leads any card he pleases, but for the last 
nine tricks the second player in each must not only follow suit, but 
must win the trick if he can, either with a superior card or with a 
trump. Any player failing to follow suit or to win a trick, when 
able to do so, may be compelled to take back his cards to the point 
where the error occurred, and to replay the hand from that point. 
In France he is penalised by counting nothing from that point on, 
either for brisques or for the last trick. 

The winner of the last trick scores fifty points for it immedi- 
ately. 

SCOHING, Each deal is a complete game in itself, and the 
winner is the player who has scored the most points for carte 
blanche, combinations, and the last trick. The brisques are not 
counted, unless they are necessary to decide a tie, or save a rubicon. 

The value of the game is determined by deducting the lesser 
score from the higher, and then adding 500 points to the remainder. 
In this deduction all fractions of a hundred are disregarded. For 
instance : A's score is 1830; while B's is 1260. A wins 1800, less 
the 1200 scored by B, which leaves 600; to this must be added the 
500 points for game, making the total value of A's game 1100 
points. 

If the scores are very nearly equal, being within one or two 
hundred points of each other, the tricks taken in by each player 
are turned over, and the brisques are counted, each player adding 
to his score ten points for every brisque -he has won. Suppose 
that after the last trick had been played and scored, A's total was 
1260, and B's 1140. This is close enough to justify B in demand- 
ing a count of the brisques. It is found that A has seven only, 
while B has twenty-five. This shows B to be the winner of the 
game, w r ith a total score of 1390 to A's 1330. 

If the difference between the final scores is less than 100 points, 
after adding the brisques and throwing off the fractions, the 
player with the higher score adds 100 points tor bonus. In the 
case just given, B's final score is equal to A's, after dropping the 
fractions from both ; so he would add 100 for bonus to the 500 
for game, and win 600 points altogether. 



RUBICONS. (Rubicon.) 277 

Rubicons. If the lower score is less than iooo, no matter 
what the higher score may be, the loser is rubiconed, and all the 
points he has scored are added to'^the score of the winner, instead 
of being deducted. In addition to this, the winner adds a double 
game, or iooo points, for the rubicon, and 300 points for all the 
brisques, no matter who actually won them. For example : A's 
score is 920, and B's 440. It is not necessary to count the 
brisques to see that A wins and B is rubiconed. A adds B's 400 
to his own 900, making his score 1300, and to this total he adds 
1300 for rubicon and brisques, making the value of his game 2600 
points altogether. 

The loser is not rubiconed if he can bring his total score to iooo 
by adding his brisques. Suppose A has 1740 and B 850. The 
brisques are counted, and it is found that B has eighteen, making 
his score 1030, and saving his rubicon. A adds his fourteen 
brisques, making his total 1880, which makes the value of his 
game 1800, minus B's iooo, plus 500 for the game, or 1300 al- 
together. 

If B's brisques did not prove sufficient to save the rubicon, A 
would count them all. Suppose that in the foregoing case B had 
taken in only eleven brisques, leaving his total 990. As this does 
not save the rubicon the game is reckoned as if the brisques had 
not been counted at all, and A wins 1800, plus B's 800, plus 1300 
for rubicon and brisques ; 3900 altogether. 

If the player who is rubiconed has scored less than 100 points, 
the winner takes 100 for bonus, in addition to the 1300 for rubicon 
and brisques. 

When a series of games is played between the same individuals, 
it is usual to keep the net results on a sheet of paper, setting down 
the hundreds only, and to settle at the end of the sitting. 

Suggestions for Good Play will be found in Binocle. 



CHINESE BEZIQUE is Rubicon Bezique with six packs 
of cards shuffled together and used as one. The counts run into 
enormous figures, and 6000 is not an uncommon score for the 
winner. 

In CHOUETTE BEZIQUE, one of several players agrees 
to take all bets, and has the choice of deal and seats without cut- 
ting. His adversaries may consult together in playing against him. 
If the chouette player wins, one of his opponents takes the loser's 
place ; but if he loses, the same player opposes him for the next 
game. The adversaries usually cut to decide which of them shall 
play the first game against the chouette player, the highest card 
having the privilege. If there are four players, two may play 
against two, each consulting with his partner and sharing his bets. 



(Knock.) 278 

BINOCLE. 

The word Binocle is spelt in many different ways, all of which, 
are, however, phonetic equivalents of the correct one. The word 
is probably derived from the French word " binage," which was 
the name given to the combination known as " binocle," and which 
seemed a better term than "cinq cents " as the game was no longer 
500 points up. In all German works on card games the name is 
spelt as we give it ; but the pronunciation of the initial " b " in the 
German is so near that of " p," that " Pinocle " is nearer the cor- 
rect spelling than any other form. There is no authority for the 
introduction of the " h," which has led some persons to think the 
word a compound of "bis " and "knochle," and has given rise to 
the forms : binochle, pinochle, pinuchle, pinucle, penucle, pe- 
nuchle, penuckle and pinuckel, all of which may be found in various 
works on card games. 

CARDS, Binocle is played with two packs of twenty-four cards 
each, all below the Nine being deleted, and the two packs being 
then shuffled together, and used as one. The cards rank A 10 K 
. Q J 9, the Ace being the highest, both in cutting and in play. 

COUNTERS. The game is 1000 points, and is usually 
scored with counters, each player being provided with four white, 
worth 10 each ; four blue, worth 100 each ; one red, worth 50, and 
a copper cent or a button, which represents 500. These counters 
are placed on the left of the player at the beginning of the game, 
and are moved over to his right as the points accrue. The game 
is sometimes kept on a cribbage board, each player starting at 21, 
and going twice round to the game-hole, reckoning each peg as 
10 points. 

STAKES, Binocle is played for so much a game of 1000 
points, and the moment either player either actually reaches or 
claims to have reached that number, the game is at an end. If 
his claim is correct, he wins ; if it is not, his adversary takes the 
stakes, no matter what the score may be. 

PLAYERS. Binocle is played by two persons, one of whom 
is known as the dealer, and the other as the pone. They cut 
for the choice of seats and deal, and the player cutting the higher 
card may deal or not, as he pleases. It is usual for the player 
having the choice to make his adversary deal. A player exposing 
more than one card must cut again. 

DEALING. After the cards are thoroughly shuffled, they 
are presented to the pone to be cut. At least five cards must be 
left in each packet. The dealer then distributes the cards four at 
a time for three rounds, giving to his adversary first, and then to 



DEALING. (Bmocie.) 279 

himself. The twenty-fifth card is turned up for the trump. If 
this card is a Nine, the dealer claims dix, and counts ten for it 
immediately. The trump card is laid aside, and the remainder of 
the pack, which is called the stock, or talon, is slightly spread, 
to facilitate the process of drawing cards from it, and to be sure 
that none of the cards remaining in the stock are exposed. The 
trump is usually placed face up under the last card of the stock. 

In Sixty-four-card Binocle, the Sevens and Eights are 
added to the pack. There are then two ways to play : If eight cards 
are dealt to each player, the game is simply Bezique, except for 
some minor details relating to the combinations and their vklue. 
These are usually disregarded, and the regular game of Bezique is 
played. If twelve cards are dealt to each player, the game is the 
same as the one about to be described, but with eight cards added 
to the pack, and the Seven taking the place of the Nine for dix. 

Misdealing. If the dealer exposes a card belonging to' his 
adversary or to the stock, the pone may demand a new deal ; but 
if either player exposes any of his own cards the deal stands good. 
If too many cards are given to either player, and the error is dis- 
covered before the dealer plays to the first trick, there must be a 
new deal. If either player has too few cards, the pone may de- 
mand a new deal, or may allow the dealer to supply the deficiency 
from the top of the stock. If any card is found exposed in the 
pack, there must be a new deal. If a card faced in the stock is 
not discovered until the first trick has been played to by the dealer, 
the exposed card must be turned face down, without disturbing its 
position. If the pack is found to be imperfect, the deal in which it 
is discovered is void ; but all previous scores and cuts made with 
that pack stand good. In all misdeals the same dealer deals again. 

METHOD OF PLAYING. After the trump is turned, 
the pone begins by leading any card he pleases. The second 
player is not obliged to follow suit, nor to trump ; but may re- 
nounce or trump at pleasure until the stock is exhausted, after 
which the method of play undergoes a change. If the second 
player follows suit in any trick, the higher card wins. Trumps 
win plain suits. If identical cards are played to the same trick, 
such as two club Jacks, the leader wins. 

The winner of the trick takes in the cards, turning them face 
down, but before he leads for the next trick he has the privilege of 
announcing and scoring any one of certain combinations that he 
may hold in his hand. After, or in the absence of any such an- 
nouncement, and before leading for the next trick, he draws a 
card from the top of the stock, and places it in his hand, without 
showing or naming it. His adversary then draws the next card, 
so that each player restores the number of cards in his hand to 
twelve. This method of playing, announcing, and drawing from 



280 (Binocle.) IRREGULARITIES. 

the talon is continued until the stock is exhausted. The AioK 
Q J of each suit have certain counting values, which will be 
described further on. 

All combinations announced and scored must be laid face up- 
ward on the table ; but the cards still form part of the player's 
hand, and may be led or played at any time, although they must 
not again be taken in hand until the stock is exhausted. 

Irregularities in Play, If either player leads out of turn, 
and his adversary plays to the lead, whether intentionally or other- 
wise, the trick stands good. If the adversary calls attention to 
the error, the card may be taken back without penalty. 

If at any time it is discovered that a player has too many cards, 
his adversary may either claim a fresh deal, or may compel him to 
play without drawing from the talon until the number of his cards 
is reduced to twelve. The player with too many cards is not 
allowed to make or score any announcements until he has his right 
number of cards. If a player has too few cards, his adversary 
may either claim a fresh deal, or allow him to make good the 
deficiency by drawing from the stock. 

Any player looking at any but the last trick turned down, for- 
feits his entire score for " cards." 

Irregularities in Drawing, If a player has forgotten to 
•take a card from the talon, and has played to the next trick, his 
adversary may elect to call the deal void, or to allow him to 
draw two cards next time. 

If a player has drawn two cards from the stock, instead of one, 
he must show the second one to his adversary if he has seen it 
himself. If it was his adversary's card, he must show his own 
card also. If he has not seen it, he may put it back without pen- 
alty. If he draws out of turn, he must restore the card improperly 
drawn, and if it belongs to his adversary, the player in error 
must show his own card. If both draw the wrong cards there is 
no remedy, and each must keep what he gets. If the loser of 
any trick draws and looks at two cards from the stock, his adver- 
sary may look at both cards of the following draw, and may select 
either for himself. If he chooses the second card, which his 
adversary has not seen, he need not show it. 

If, on account of some undetected irregularity, an even number 
of cards remain in the stock, the last card must not be drawn. 
The winner of the trick takes the last but one, and the loser takes 
the trump card. 

OBJECTS OF THE GAME, The aim of each player is to 
reach iooo points before his adversary, and the one first reaching 
that number, and announcing it, wins the game. Points are 
scored for dix, melds, the last trick, and for cards, which 
are the counting cards in tricks won. 



MELDS. (Biaoclc.) 281 

Melds. The various 'combinations which are declared during 
the play of the hand are called melds, from the German word mel- 
den, to announce. These melds are divided into three classes : 
a, Marriages and Sequences ; b, Binocles ; and c, Fours. Only one 
combination can be announced at a time, and it must be melded 
immediately after the player holding it has won a trick, and before 
he draws his card from the stock. If he draws without announc- 
ing, even if he has not seen the card drawn, he cannot meld any- 
thing until he wins another trick. The melds and their values are 
as follows : — 

CLASS A. 

King and Queen of any plain suit, Marriage, . .20 

King and Queen of Trumps, Koyal Marriage, . 40 

The five highest trumps, Sequence, . . .150 

CLASS B. 

Spade Queen and diamond Jack, Binocle, . . 40 

Two spade Queens and diamond Jacks, Double Binocle, g Q 
King and Queen of spades, and diamond Jack, Grand 

Binocle, . . . . . .80 

CLASS C 

Four Aces of different suits, . . . 100 

Four Kings of different suits, . . 80 

Four Queens of different suits, . , .60 

Four Jacks of different suits, . . 40 
Eight Aces, ..... 200 

Eight Kings, .... 160 

Eight Queens, . . . .120 

Eight Jacks, . . . 80 

The third meld in class B is not often played in America. The 
count for it is the same, 80 points, whether the marriage in spades 
is the trump suit or not. It will be observed that the court cards 
in class C must be of different suits in Binocle, whereas, in Be- 
zique, any four court cards may be declared. The following rules 
govern all classes of declarations : — 

The player making the declaration must have won the previous 
trick, and must meld before drawing his card from the stock. 
When the stock, is exhausted, so that no cards remain to be drawn, 
no further announcements can be made. 

Only one meld can be scored at a time, so that a trick must be 
made for every announcement made, or the combination cannot be 
scored, and a fresh card must be played from the hand for every 



282 (Binocle.) RULES FOR MELDS. 

fresh meld. This is a very important rule, and little understood. 
Suppose a player holds four Kings and four Queens. The total 
count for the various combinations these cards will make is 220: 
two plain-suit marriages, 20 each ; royal marriage, 40 ; four Kings, 
80 ; and four Queens, 60. As only one combination can be scored 
for each trick won, and as the player must lay down at least one 
fresh card for each successive meld, it is evident that if he 
begins with the 80 Kings, and then marries each of them in turn, 
when he comes to the fourth Queen he will have to sacrifice the 20 
for a marriage in order to score the 60 for the four Queens. He 
cannot score both, or he will not be complying with the rule about 
the fresh card from the hand for every meld. That is why four 
Kings and four Queens are never worth' 240, but only 220. 

A player cannot meld cards which have already been used to 
form higher combinations in the same class ; but he may use 
cards melded in lower combinations to form more valuable ones 
in the sr.me class, provided he adds at least one fresh card from 
his hard. The principle is that cards may be, added to melds 
ahead' shown, but they cannot be taken away to form other 
combinations in the same class. For example: Royal marriage 
. has teen melded and scored. The player may add to this the 
Ace, Ten, and Jack of trumps to make the sequence, which is a 
more valuable combination in the same class. But if the first 
meld is the sequence, he cannot take away from the sequence 
the card or cards to form a marriage. A new Queen added to the 
King already in the sequence will not make a marriage ; because 
it is not the Queen that is added to the sequence, but the King 
that is taken away. 

The same rule applies to the binocles. If a player has scored 
double binocle, he can not afterward take away two cards to meld 
a single binocle ; but if the single binocle has been melded and 
scored first, he may add two more cards, and score the double 
binocle. He cannot score the second single, and then claim the 
double, because some new card must be added to form a new 
meld in the same class. 

If four Kings are melded and scored, the other four may be 
added later; but if the eight Kings are first melded, the score for 
the four Kings is lost. 

Cards may be taken away from one combination to form less 
valuable combinations in another class. For instance : Four 
Jacks have been melded ; the diamond Jack may be taken away 
to form a binocle with the spade Queen. If spades are trumps, 
and the sequence has been melded, the Queen may be taken away 
/ to form a binocle, because the binocle is in a different class of 
melds ; but the Queen cannot be used to form a marriage, because 
the sequence and the marriage are in the same class. As there 
are three classes, one card may be used three separate times. 
The spade Queen, for instance, may be used in a marriage, in 



RULES FOR MELDS. (Binocle.) 283 

binocle, and in four Queens, and these melds may be made in any 
order. 

Cards once used in combinations cannot again be used in melds 
of equal value belonging to the same class ; and combinations 
once broken up cannot be re-formed by the addition of fresh cards. 
For instance : Four Kings have been melded, and one of them 
has been used in the course of play. The player cannot add 
a new King to the three remaining, and meld four Kings again. 
A marriage in hearts has been melded, and the King played away. 
A new King will not make another marriage with the old Queen. 
A binocle has been melded, and the Jack has been played ; 
another Jack will not make a new binocle with the old Queen. 

Double Declarations. When a player makes a meld con- 
taining certain cards which will form a counting combination 
with other cards already on the table, it is called a double declar- 
ation, that is, a meld in two different classes at the same time. 
For instance : A player has melded and scored four Kings, and on 
winning another trick he melds binocle. Two of the cards on the 
table form a marriage in spades, and as the marriage is in a dif- 
ferent class from either of the other melds, he may claim it and 
score it ; but if he does, he will lose the score for the binocle, being 
prevented by the rule about a fresh card from the hand for each 
individual meld. The only way to secure both scores would be to 
meld the marriage first, and afterward to lay down the Jack and 
meld the binocle. 

Time. On account of the number of combinations possible, 
and the fact that there are only twelve tricks to be played before 
the scores for announcements are barred, it frequently happens 
that a player has not time to score everything he holds. He is 
allowed to count the cards remaining in the talon, provided he 
does not disturb their order, and it is often important to do so 
toward the end of a hand. 

Scoring Dix. If a player holds or draws the Nine of trumps, 
he has the privilege of exchanging it for the turn-up card, and 
scoring ten points for dix. The, exchange must be made imme- 
diately after winning a trick, and before drawing his card from the 
stock. Should the turn-up be a Nine, the exchange may still be 
made and scored ; and if one player has already exchanged a 
Nine for the turn-up, the second Nine may still be exchanged for 
the first, and scored. A player cannot score dix and any other 
combination at the same time. For this reason a player whose 
time is short will often forego the dix score altogether unless the 
trump card is valuable. 

Irregular Melds. If a player announces a combination 

which he does not show, such as fours when he has three only, 



284 (Binode.) PENALTIES. 

which he may easily do by mistaking a Jack for a King, his adver- 
sary can compel him not only to take down the score erroneously 
. marked, but to lead or play one of the three Kings. A player 
may be called upon to lead or play cards from other erroneous 
declarations in the same manner, but if he has the right card or 
cards in his hand, he may amend his error, provided he has not 
drawn a card from the stock in the meantime. 

The Last Twelve Tricks. When the stock is exhausted all 
announcements are at an end, and the players take back into their 
hands all the cards upon the table which may remain from the com- 
binations declared in the course of play. Should a player take up 
his cards before playing to the last trick, he may be called upon to 
lay his entire hand on the table. 

The winner of the previous trick then leads any card he pleases; 
but for the last twelve tricks the second player in each must not 
only follow suit, but must win the trick if he can, either with a su- 
perior card or with a trump. Any player failing to follow suit or to 
win a trick, when able to do so, may be compelled to take back his 
cards to the point where the error occurred, and to replay the 
hand from that point on. The penalty for the revoke varies in 
different places, but the' general rule is for the revoking player to 
lose his entire count for " cards." 

The winner of the last trick scores ten points for it ; and the 
players then turn over the tricks they have taken, and count their 
score for "cards." 

Cards. The five highest cards in each suit count toward game 
for the player winning them. The Ace is worth n points, the 
Ten 10, the King 4, the Queen 3, and the Jack 2, no matter what 
the suit may be, so that there are 240 points for cards to be di- 
vided between the players in each deal. It is usual for only one 
to count, the other checking him, and taking the difference between 
the total and 240. Cards are not scored as the tricks are taken 
in, but after the hand is over and the 10 points have been scored 
for the last trick. 

From this it might be imagined that no notice was taken of the 
counting value of the cards taken in during the play. Early in the 
game this is true ; but toward the end each player must keep very 
careful mental count of the value of his tricks, although he is 
not allowed to make any note of it, nor to score it. When either 
player knows, by adding his mental count to his score for melds 
and dix, that he has made points enough to win the game, he stops 
the play by knocking on the table. He then turns over his tricks 
and counts his cards, to show his adversary that he has won the 
game. Even if both have enough to go out, the player wins who 
knocks first, provided his count is correct. If the player who 
knocks is mistaken, and cannot count out, he loses the game, no 
matter what his adversary's score may be. 



SCORING. (Binocle.) 285 

If neither knocks, and at the end of the hand both players are 
found to have points enough to put them out, neither wins the 
game. If the game is iooo points, it must be continued to 1250. 
Should both reach that point without knocking, it must be con- 
tinued to 1500. If neither knocks, and only one has enough points 
to put him out, he wins the game on its merits. 

SCORING, The game is usually 1000 points. All scores for 
dix, melds, and the last trick, are counted as soon as made ; but 
the players are not allowed to keep any record of the score for 
cards, nor to go back over their tricks to refresh their memory. 
Any player going back further than the last trick turned and 
quitted, forfeits his entire score for cards. The player first cor- 
rectly announcing that he has reached 1000 points, wins the game, 
no matter what his adversary's score may be ; but if the announce- 
ment is incorrect, he loses the game. 

Should a player score more than he is entitled to ; as, for in- 
stance, scoring 80 for four Queens, his adversary may take down 
the superfluous score, 20 points in this instance^ and may add it to 
his own score for a penalty. 

CHEATING. Apart from the usual weapons of false 
shuffles, strippers cut to locate or pull out the binocle cards, and 
the opportunities always offered to the greek when the cards are 
dealt three or four at a time, the bezique family of games are par- 
ticularly adapted to the use of marked cards. These will show the 
philosopher the exact value of both the cards in the next draw, and 
will enable him to vary his play accordingly. It is for this reason 
that in * France the top card of the stock [is always drawn by the 
same player, no matter which wins the trick. In Rubicon Bezique, 
a person should be very familiar with the movements peculiar to 
dealing seconds before he ventures to play in a public cafe, or he 
may find his adversary with, the most astonishing run of repeated 
combinations, and will be rubiconed almost every game. 

Never play with a man who cuts the pack with both hands, 
watches the cards closely as he deals, or looks intently at the top 
of the stock before he plays to the current trick. Players who 
have a nervous affection which makes them pass over too many 
counters at once will also bear watching. Colour blindness may 
lead them to take over a blue instead of a white in a close game. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD JPLAT. The general 
principles of play are much the same in all the Bezique family of 
games. 

It is usually best to give your adversary the deal, because the 
first lead is often an advantage, especially if the turn-up is valu- 
able, and you have a dix, or if you want to make the trump in 
Rubicon Bezique. 

It is seldom right to make the trump unless you have one or two 
of the sequence cards with the marriage. 



286 (Binocle.) GOOD PLAY. 

The Lead is a disadvantage unless you have something to 
declare, or there is a brisque in the .trick, or you can get home the 
Ten of a plain suit. The Tens are of no value in plain suits ex- 
cept as brisques, for they enter into no combination with other 
cards except in Penchant, Cinq-cents, and Rubicon. If the trick 
is of no value, or you have nothing important to declare, get rid of 
your small cards, and lead them when you do not want to retain 
the lead. The lead is sometimes necessary to prevent your adver- 
sary from declaring, especially toward the end of the hand. If 
you have led a brisque and won the trick, it is better to lead an- 
other brisque in the same suit than to change. 

Aces are better leads than Kings or Queens, for the court cards 
can be married, and you may never get ioo Aces. Kings are 
better leads than Queens, especially if the Queens are spades. 
Jacks are better than either, but the Jack of diamonds should be 
kept as long as possible. If you have to decide between two com- 
binations, one of which you must sacrifice, lead that which is of 
the smallest value, or the least likely to be restored. For instance : 
If your adversary has shown one or two Kings, but no Ace, and 
you have three of each, you are more likely to get ioo Aces than 
80 Kings. 

If you hold duplicate cards, especially in trumps, play the one on 
the table, not the one in your hand. 

Drisques. Beginners often overlook the importance of brisques. 
Every time you allow your adversary to take in a brisque which 
you might have won, you make a difference of twenty points in the 
score. While you are hugging three Aces, waiting for a fourth, 
your adversary may get home all his Tens, and then turn up with 
your fourth Ace in his hand. 

Discarding. It is usually best to settle upon one of two suits 
or combinations, and to discard the others, for you cannot play for 
everything. Having once settled on what to play for, it is generally 
bad policy to change unless something better turns up. 

Your adversary's discards will often be a guide as to the com- 
binations he hopes to make, and will show you that you need not 
keep certain cards. For instance : If a binocle player discards or 
plays two heart Kings, it is unlikely that he has either of the 
Queens, and you may reasonably hope for 60 Queens ; but it will 
be impossible for you to make anything out of your Kings but 
marriages. In Bezique, where Kings may be of the same suit in 
fours, you will have a slightly better chance for 80 Kings on 
account of your adversary's discards, because he certainly has no 
more, as he would not break up three Kings. 

Declaring. It is often a nice point to decide whether or not 
you can afford to make minor declarations while holding higher 
ones in your hand. In Rubicon many players will give up the 



GOOD PLAY. (Binocle.) 287 

trump marriage if they have the sequence, especially with a good 
chance of re-forming it several times with duplicate cards. The 
number of cards inland will often be the best guide. In Rubi- 
con, if you held trump sequence and double bezique, it would be 
better to declare the sequence first, and to lead the card you 
drew. One of the trump sequence on the table would then be 
free to regain the lead and declare the double bezique ; but if the 
bezique was declared first, the sequence might have to be broken 
into to regain the lead. With a plain-suit sequence and four 
Aces, declare the Aces first. They will then be free to win tricks 
for the purpose of making other declarations. 

It is seldom right to show the bezique cards in other combina- 
tions, and four Jacks is a very bad meld, because it shows your 
adversary that he cannot hope for double bezique. By holding up 
bezique cards, even if you know they are of no use to you, you 
may lead your adversary to break up his hand, hoping to draw 
the card or cards you hold. 

Trumps. Small trumps may be used to advantage in win- 
ning brisques, but you should keep at least one small trump to 
get the lead at critical periods of the hand, or to make an im- 
portant declaration. It is bad policy to trump in to make minor 
declarations, unless your time is short. It is seldom right to lead 
the trump Ace, except at the end of the hand, or when you have 
duplicates, but leading high trumps to prevent an adversary from 
declaring further is a common stratagem, if you know from the 
cards in your hand, and those played, that your adversary may 
get the cards to meld something of importance. 

The Last Tricks. Before you play to the last trick, give 
yourself time to note the cards your adversary has on the table, 
and compare them with your own, so that you may play the last 
tricks to advantage. If you wait until after playing to the last 
trick, he may gather up his cards so quickly that you will be un- 
able to remember them. At Rubicon it is not always advisable 
to win the last trick. If your adversary is rubiconed in any case, 
you may add ioo points to your own score by giving him the 50 
for the last trick, which may put him across the line into another 
hundred. 

TEXT BOOKS. 

Foster's Complete Pinocle. 1906. 

Laws of Pinochle, by R. F. Foster. 1908. 

Bezique and Cribbage, by "Berkeley." 

The Royal Game of Bezique, by Chas. GoodaU 

Pocket Guide to Bezique, by " Cavendish." 

Bdzique, by J. L. Baldwin. 



288 (Binocle.) THREE-HANDED BINOCLE. 

Rubicon Bdzique, by " Cavendish." 

Bezique, by Reynolds & Son. 

Bezique, by English. 

Regie du Be*sique Japonais. 

Articles in Macmillan, Dec, 1861 ; Field, Jan. 30, 1869; Pall 
Mall Gazette, Jan. 23, 27, 1869; Once a Week, Feb. 13, Mar. 20, 
1869; Daily News, Feb. 10, 1869; Westminster Papers, Jan., 1869. 



THREE-HANDED BINOCLE, 

When three persons play, the entire pack is dealt out, giving 
sixteen cards to each player, four at a time, and turning up the last 
for the trump. There is no stock. Each plays for himself, and 
must keep his own score. A triangular cribbage board is very 
useful for this purpose. 

Dine, Each player in turn, beginning on the dealer's left, may 
show the Nine of trumps if he holds it, and exchange it for the 
trump card. Should two Nines be shown by different players, 
the one on the dealer's left takes the turn-up trump. Even if the 
dealer has a Nine himself, he is not allowed to keep the turn-up 
trump. If the same player holds both Nines he may score twenty 
on winning a trick. A player with 990 up is not out if he turns up 
the Nine. He must win a trick. 

Melds. All the combinations have the same value as in the 
ordinary game, but all melds are laid upon the table before a card 
is played. When he lays down his cards, a player may make as 
many combinations with them as he can, just as he would in the 
ordinary game if he had plenty of time. If he has the trump 
sequence, he may lay down the marriage first, then the A 10 J. If 
he has double binocle, he may lay down the single first, and then 
the other, claiming the count for both. Four Kings and four 
Queens count 220. The trump sequence counts 190. 

No player is allowed to meld after he has played to the first trick. 
If he discovers he had more to meld, but has played a card, the 
unannounced score is lost. An interesting variation is sometimes 
introduced by allowing the other players to claim any score over- 
looked by the one who melds. 

The total number of points claimed by each player is simply 
announced, but not scored. The player must win a trick before 
he can score anything ; but the first trick he wins entitles him to 
score everything he has announced, including dix. It is usual to 
put the melds on a slate, and to rub them out if the player does 
not win a trick. 



THREE HANDED. fBinocie.) 289 

Playing. The melds are all taken in hand again before play 
begins. The eldest hand leads for the first trick any card he 
pleases, and the others must follow suit if able, and must win the 
trick if they can, either with a higher card or with a trump. If 
the third hand cannot win the trick, he is still obliged to follow 
suit if he can; but if he has none of the suit led, and the second 
hand has already put on a better trump than any held by third 
hand, the latter must under-trump if he can. The winner of one 
trick leads for the next, as in the ordinary game. The winner of 
the sixteenth or last trick counts ten points for it at once. 

Scoring. The points for dix, melds, and the last trick are all 
scored with the counters in the ordinary way, but the score for 
cards must be kept mentally. The moment any player correctly 
announces that he has reached iooo points, he wins the game, no 
matter what the others may have scored. If his claim is not cor- 
rect, he retires, and the two remaining players finish alone. If 
neither wins the game that deal, they play the next deal as in 
ordinary two-handed Binocle, with a stock, the ultimate winner 
taking the stakes. If it has been agreed that the lowest score pays 
when the first player goes out, the game is ended as soon as one 
retires. If two players reach iooo points without either having 
claimed the game, they must both go on to 1250; but if the third 
piayer reaches and announces iooo before either of the others 
reaches 1250, he wins the game. 

The Revoke. The individual player in error loses his entire 
score for "cards." The bidder cannot be set back if either ad- 
versary revokes. He may demand that the hand be played out 
if he thinks he can get a good score. 



GAIGEL. 



This is sometimes called Short Binocle. It is played by two 
persons with the forty-eight card pack, and the melds are reduced 
to the following values: — 

King and Queen of a plain suit 20 

Double marriage in the same suit 40 

King and Queen of trumps 4° 

Double marriage in trumps 80 

Any five Nines 101 

Two single marriages in the same suit cannot be melded at dif- 
ferent times. Game is 101 points. 



290 (Binocle.) 

FOUR-HANDED BINOCLE. 

Four persons may play, each for himself, or two against two as 
partners, sitting opposite each other. All the cards are dealt, 
twelve to each player, four at a time, and the last is turned up for 
the trump. 

JMLelds are not made until the player holding them has played to 
the first trick. The eldest hand leads and then melds; the second 
player plays and then melds, and so on. The card played to the 
first trick may still be reckoned in the melds. 

Playing, The general rules of play are the same as in the 
three-handed game ; players being obliged to follow suit and to win 
the trick if able to do so. The fourth player must win his partner's 
trick if he can, and any player who cannot follow suit to a trick 
that is already trumped must under-trump if he is unable to over- 
trump. 

Scoring. There are three ways to score: In the first, each 
player must individually win a trick in order to score his melds. 
In the second, when either partner wins a trick, the melds in both 
hands may be scored. In both these the melds are kept separate. 
In the third, when a player wins a trick he may combine his melds 
with those of his partner to form fresh combinations, and the 
scores are made as if the melds of the two partners were in one 
hand ; but cards previously played to the tricks cannot be used in 
these fresh combinations. The cards must still be on the table, 
unplayed. For this reason, in this style of game the melds are not 
taken up until one of the partner wins a trick. 



AUCTION BINOCLE. 

In this variation, each of three or four players is for himself. 
The forty-eight cards are dealt out, four at a time, but no trump is 
turned. Beginning on the dealer's left, each player in turn bids a 
certain number of points for the privilege of naming the trump suit 
and of having the lead for the first trick. There are no second 
bids. If all pass, the dealer must bid twenty. 

As soon as the trump is named, every player at the table makes 
his own melds, which will be good if he wins a trick. The rules 
for play are the same as in the ordinary three and four hand. 

If four play as partners, two against two, the eldest hand always 
leads for the first trick, no matter who the successful bidder may be- 

The bidder always has the first count at the end of the hand, 
and it is usual to play this game so many deals, instead of so many 



SIXTY-SIX. (Sixty-six.) 291 

points. At the end of six deals, for instance, the highest score is 
the winner. 

Sometimes this game is played with a widow, three cards when 
three play, four when four play. Each player is allowed three bids, 
and the successful bidder turns the widow face up, so that all may 
see what it contained. He then takes the widow into his hand and 
discards what he pleases, face down, to reduce his hand to the 
same number of cards as the other players. The trump is not 
named until after this discard. The bidder has the first lead and 
also the first count. Six deals is a game. 



SIXTY-SIX. 

Sixty-six is one of the simplest forms of Bezique, and is an ex- 
tremely good game for two persons with one pack of cards. 

Cards, Sixty-six is played with a pack of twenty-four cards, 
all below the Nine being deleted. The cards rank, A 10 K Q J 9 ; 
the Ace being the highest, both in cutting and in play. 

Markers. The game may be kept with the small cards in the 
unused portion of the pack, or with a whist marker or counters. 
Anything that will score up to seven points will do. 

Players. The regular game is played by two persons, one of 
whom is known as the dealer, and the other as the pone. They 
cut for seats and deal, the highest cut having the choice. 

Stakes. Sixty-six is played for so much a game, or for so 
much a point, the loser's score being deducted from the winner's. 
If the loser has not scored at all, it is usually counted a double 
game. 

Dealing. The cards having been shuffled and presented to the 
pone to be cut, the dealer gives six cards to each player, three at a 
time, dealing first to his adversary. There are several ways of 
making the trump, one of which should be agreed upon before 
play begins. One way is for the pone to draw a card from the 
top, the middle, or the bottom of the talon, after the dealer has 
given each player his six cards. Another way is for the dealer to 
turn up the seventh card, after dealing the first round of three to 
each player. Another, and the one generally adopted in America, 
is for the dealer to turn up the thirteenth card for the trump, after 
giving six cards to each player. The trump card is left face up- 
ward on the table, and is usually placed under the remainder of 
the pack, which . is slightly spread, face down, for the players to 
draw from. 



292 Cixty-sixO PLAYING. 

The general rules for irregularities in the deal are the same as 
in Binocle. A misdeal does not lose the deal. 

Objects of the Game. The object of the game, as its name 
implies, is to count sixty-six. If a player can get sixty-six be- 
fore his adversary, he counts one point toward game. If he gets 
sixty-six before his opponent gets thirty-three, which is called 
Schneider, he counts two. If he gets sixty-six before his adver- 
sary wins a trick, which is called Schwartz, he counts three. 
The player first making seven points in this manner wins the 
game. 

A player may reach sixty-six by winning tricks containing cer- 
tain counting cards ; by holding and announcing marriages, which 
are the King and Queen of any suit ; and by winning the last trick. 

The various counts for these are as follows : — 
For King and Queen of trumps, Royal Marriage, . 40 

For King and Queen of any plain suit, Marriage, . 20 

For the Ace of any suit, . . ... .11 

For the Ten of any suit, • • • • • 10 

For the King of any suit, • • • • • 4 

For the Queen of any suit t • • • . 3 

For the Jack of any suit, . . • • . 2 

For the last or twelfth trick, . . . . 10 

The marriages count for the player holding and announcing 
them ; all other points for the player actually winning them. The 
last trick does not count unless it is the twelfth ; that is, not unless 
every card is played. 

Method of Playing, The pone begins by leading any card 
he pleases. The second player in any trick is not obliged to follow 
suit, even in trumps ; but may renounce or trump at pleasure until 
the players cease to draw from the stock. If the second player 
follows suit, the higher card wins the trick. Trumps win all other 
suits. 

Drawing. The winner of the trick takes in the cards, turning 
them face down ; but before he leads for the next trick he draws 
a card from the top of the stock, and places it in his hand without 
showing or naming it. His adversary then draws the next card, 
so that each restores the number of cards in his hand to six. 

The Trump. If either player holds or draws the Nine of 
trumps, he may exchange it for the turn-up at any time, provided 
he has already won a trick. This need not be the trick immedi- 
ately before exchanging, and he need not wait to get the lead be- 
fore making the exchange. For instance : A player holding the 
Nine, and having to play to his adversary's lead, may win the 
trick with the turn-up card, leaving the Nine in its place, provided 
he has won some previous trick. There is no count for dix, as in 



MARRIAGES. (Sixty-six.) 293 

Bezique and Binocle, and the player is not obliged to exchange 
unless he wishes to do so. If the Nine is the last card in the 
stock, it is, of course, too late to exchange it, and the player draw- 
ing it must keep it. 

Marriages, If a player holds both King and Queen of any 
suit, he may count 20 points towards 66 for the marriage, or 40 for 
royal marriage, by leading either of the marriage cards. It is not 
necessary for the King or Queen so led to win the trick ; but the 
player declaring a marriage must have the lead, and must have 
won a trick, or he cannot count it. The pone may declare a mar- 
riage on his first lead ; but it will not count unless he wins some 
subsequent trick, and if his adversary gets to 66 before the pone 
gets a trick, the marriage is lost, and the pone is schwartz. 

If the 20 or 40 claimed for the marriage is enough to carry the 
player's count to 66 or beyond, the marriage need only be shown 
and claimed, without leading it, and the remaining cards are then 
abandoned, provided the count is correct. Only one marriage can 
be shown but not led in this manner. 

In the ordinary course of play it is not necessary to show both 
cards of the marriage unless the adversary asks to see them. 
The player simply leads the King or Queen, and says : " Twenty," 
or " Forty," as the case may be. If he leads a King or Queen 
without claiming any count, it is evident that he has not a marriage. 
If he has simply forgotten to claim it, he cannot amend the error 
after his adversary has played to the trick, and the score is lost. 
To avoid disputes, careful players leave one of the marriage cards 
face up among their cards, as a reminder that a marriage was 
claimed in that suit, either by the player with the card turned, or 
by his adversary. 

Counting. A player is not allowed to make any record of his 
progress toward sixty-six, but must keep his count mentally. It is 
highly important to keep both your own and your adversary's 
count, in order that you may always know how many each of you 
wants to reach 66. A player is not allowed to go back over his 
tricks to refresh his memory, and if he looks at any trick but the 
last one turned and quitted, he loses the privilege of " closing." 

All irregularities in playing and drawing are governed by 
the same rules as in Binocle. 

The Last Six Tricks. After the stock is exhausted, mar- 
riages may still be led or shown, and scored ; but the second 
player in each trick must follow suit if he can, although he is not 
obliged to win the trick unless he chooses to do so. If all the 
cards are played, the winner of the last or twelfth trick, counts 10 
for it toward his 66. 

Announcing Sixty-sine. If neither of the players has 
claimed to have reached 66 until after the last trick is played, both 



294 (Sixty-six,) CLOSING. 

turn over their cards and count their points. If only one has 
reached 66, he counts one or two points, according to his adver- 
sary's count. If neither has reached 66, which is possible if no 
marriages have been declared ; or if both have 66 or more, and 
neither has claimed it, neither side scores, but the winner on the 
next deal adds one to whatever he may make. For instance : A 
and B are adversaries, and the last trick is played without either 
announcing that he is sixty-six. On counting, it is found that A 
has 48 points and a marriage, 68 altogether, while B has 72 points 
and the last trick, 82 altogether. Neither counts anything. On 
the next deal let us suppose that A makes 66 before B gets out of 
Schneider, which will give A two points. To these he adds one 
for the tie on the last deal, and scores three altogether. 

Closing. Closing is turning the trump card face down on the 
remainder of the pack, which signifies that there shall be no more 
drawing from the stock, and that the second player in each trick 
must follow suit if he can, although he is not obliged to win the 
trick. 

A player can close only when he has the lead, but having the 
lead, he may close at any time. The pone may close before lead- 
ing for the first trick ; or after winning the first trick, and before 
drawing from the stock. The leader may close after one or more 
tricks have been played, and he may close without drawing from 
the stock ; or he may draw, and then close. If the leader closes 
without drawing, his adversary must play without drawing. 

When the stock is closed, the player holding the Nine of 
trumps may still exchange it for the trump card, whether he is the 
closer or not, provided he has previously won a trick. It is usual 
for the closer, if he does not hold the Nine himself, to take up the 
trump card and offer it to his adversary. This is an intimation 
that he is about to turn it down if his adversary does not want it. 
It is sometimes better not to exchange when the game is closed, 
as it may give the adversary a good counting card if he can catch 
all your trumps. 

There is no score for the last trick when the game is closed, be- 
cause the number of tricks played will then be less than twelve. 

As closing gives peculiar advantages to the closer, there are 
certain forfeits if a person closes and fails to reach 66. There are 
three varieties of closing, which are as follows :— 

If, during the play of the hand, either player thinks he has 
reached 66, he closes, and turns over the tricks he has already won. 
If he is correct, he scores one, two, or three points, according to 
the condition of his adversary's count. But if he is not correct, 
and has not quite reached 66, his adversary scores two points in 
any case, and if the non-closer had not won a trick up to the time 
the stock was closed, he scores three ; because that is the num- 
ber the closer would have won if he had been correct in his count. 



CLOSING. (Sixty-six.) 295 

If a player thinks he would have a better chance to reach 66 
first if his adversary was compelled to follow suit, he may close 
the stock. For instance : A's mental count is 35, and he holds in 
his hand a marriage, and the Ace of another plain suit ; but no 
trumps. If he closes at once, and leads the Ace, his adversary 
will have to follow suit, and the 1 1 points will put the closing 
player to 46. He can then show his marriage, without leading it, 
and claim 66. But if the adversary should turn out to have none 
of the suit led, and should trump the Ace, A might never reach 66, 
and B would count two points. 

A player may close, hoping to make Schneider or Schwartz. For 
instance ; A knows his score is 1 3, while B has 32. A has royal 
marriage and Ace of trumps in his hand, and the Nine is turned 
up. If A closes, and so compels B to follow suit, he must catch 
the Jack or Ten of trumps by leading the Ace. If he catches the 
Jack, that will put him to 26, and showing the royal marriage will 
put him 66, and make B Schneider. If B has no trump, one of 
the marriage cards can be led without any fear of losing it, and 
that will put A to 66, even if B plays a Nine to both leads. But if 
A leads the ace of trumps without closing, B is not compelled to 
follow suit, and might play the Nine of a plain suit to the Ace of 
trumps. If A then closed or played on without closing, B might 
win one of the marriage cards with the Ten, and not only get out 
of Schneider, but reach 66 in plain suits before A could win another 
trick. 

On the same principle, a player may think he can reach 66 before 
his adversary can win a trick, provided he can compel him to fol- 
low suit. With two plain-suit Aces and the royal marriage, the 
pone would close before playing to the first trick, trusting to catch 
at least 4 points with his two aces, and then to show the marriage, 
making his adversary schwartz. 

Some judgment is necessary in deciding whether or not to draw 
before closing. If a player is allowed to draw, he may get a trump, 
or a guard to one that you suspect he has. Suppose he has ex- 
changed the Nine for the Ten, and you have Ace and royal mar- 
riage ; it is very likely that the Ten is unguarded, and if you close 
without drawing you may catch it, which will make your three 
trumps alone good for 68. This also shows that the player should 
not have taken up the Ten until he wanted to use it. 

Nothing is gained by closing, except compelling the adversary 
to follow suit ; because if you close to make him schwartz, and he 
gets a trick, you count two only ; if you close to make him Schnei- 
der, and he gets out, you count one only. If you fail in the first 
case, he counts three, anji any failure will give him two points. 



zyo ^ sixty-six.; 

THREE-HANDED SIXTY-SIX. 

This is exactly the same as the ordinary game, except that the 
dealer takes no cards, but scores whatever points are won on the 
hand he deals. If neither of the others score, either through each 
making 65, or one failing to claim 66, the dealer scores one point, 
and the others get nothing. The dealer cannot go out on his own 
deal. He must stop at six, and win out by his own play. 

There are two. ways to settle : Each may pay a certain amount 
to the pool, and the first man out take it all; or, after one is out, the 
two remaining finish the game, and the loser pays both or settles 
for the refreshments, as the case may be. If the first man goes 
out when it will be his turn to deal, he must deal the next hand. 



FOUR-HANDED SKTY-SDC 

This game is sometimes called JLreutz-mariage, owing to 
the German fashion of dealing the cards in the form of a cross ; 
but as the cards are not dealt that way, and marriages are not 
scored in America, the name is not appropriate in this country. 

The pack is increased to thirty-two cards by the addition of the 
Sevens and Eights. After the cards are cut by the pone, the dealer 
gives three to each player on the first round, then two, and then 
three again, turning up the last card for the trump. In Germany 
the dealer first gives two cards to his partner, then two to his 
left hand adversary, then two to his right hand adversary, and fi- 
nally two to himself. This is continued for four rounds, so that each 
player receives eight cards, and the last is turned up for the trump. 
The turned-up trump belongs to the dealer, and cannot be ex- 
changed. 

In this form of the game the players must not only follow suit, 
but must win the trick if they can, and must trump and over- 
trump if possible. A player is even obliged to win his partner's 
trick. Owing to this rule, a player with good plain suit cards will 
usually attempt to exhaust the trumps as rapidly as possible. 

The counting cards are the same as in Sixty-six, and the 
winner of the last trick counts 10. As there is no stock, there is 
no closing ; and as marriages are not counted in America, the 66 
points must be made on cards alone. 

The scores for Schneider and Schwartz are the same as in 
Sixty-six, and seven points is game. There are 130 points made 
in every deal, so if one side gets more than 66 and less than 100, 
their adversaries must be out of Schneider, and the winners count 
one. More than 100, but less than 130 is Schneider, and counts 
two. If the winners take every trick, making 130 points, they 
score three. Sometimes an extra point is scored for winning the 
Ten of trumps ; but such a count is quite foreign to the game. 



(Skat.) 297 



SKAT. 

The etymology of the word Skat, sometimes spelt Scat, is a 
matter of doubt, but the most plausible explanation is that it is a 
corruption of one of the terms in the parent game of Taroc; 
" scart," from " scarto," what is left ; or " scartare," to discard or 
reject. Ai Matadore " is another word from the game of Taroc, 
still retained in Skat. Others attribute the word to " Skatt," the 
Old-German or Anglo-Saxon for money ; the modern German, 
" Schatz," a treasure, referring to the forms of the game in which 
good counting cards are laid aside in the skat for the count at the 
end of the hand. This derivation would account for both spellings 
of the word, with a " k " and with a " c." 

The student is advised to make himself familiar with the Ger- 
man terms in the following description, as they are in common use 
wherever skat is played. Many American players who use the 
English language in bidding by figures, still adhere to the German 
names for the suits and positions at the table. 

CARDS. Skat is played with a pack of thirty-two cards, all 
below the Seven being deleted. The rank of the cards differs ac- 
cording to whether the players are attempting to win or to lose 
tricks. If the object is to win tricks, it is known as a " game ; " if 
the object is to lose, it is called a " nullo." In nullo the cards rank 
in their natural order ; A K Q J 10 9 8 7, the Ace being the highest. 
In the various " games," the four Jacks are always the best trumps, 
and are known as JVenzels, The other cards follow the usual 
German rank ; A 10 K Q 9 8 7, the Ace being the highest in plain 
suits. 

The German names for the cards are as follows ; — Jack : 
Wenzel, Bauern, Bube, Jungen, or Unter. Ace: As, or Daus. 
Ten, Zehn. King, Konig. Queen: Dame, Ober, or Konigen. 
Nine, Neun. Eight, Acht. Seven, Sieben. The most com- 
mon terms are ; Bube, As, Zehn, Konig, Dame, etc. The words 
Unter and Ober for the Jack and Queen, refer to the manner of 
marking the suits on the German cards. In the Queens, the mark 
of the suit is always above the figure, which has a single head ; 



298 (Skat) 



THE CARDS. 



in the Jacks the suit mark is always under the figure. This dis- 
tinction is necessary, because in the German cards the Queen is a 
male figure. The King has two suit marks, one on each side of 
the head. When the French or American double-head cards are 
used, with suit-marks in both corners, the words " ober " and 
" unter " have no meaning ; Dame and Bube being used instead. 

Hank of the Suits, In addition to the rank of the cards 
themselves, the suits outrank one another, except in Nullo, clubs 
being always the best, then spades, hearts and diamonds. The 
Germans have various names for the suits, that first given in each 
instance being in common use among modern Germans. Clubs : 
Kreuz, Trefle, Eicheln, Eckern, or Braiin. Spades : Pique, Schiip- 
pen, Laub, or Griin. Hearts : Hertzen, Cceur, or Roth. Dia- 
monds : Carreau, Schellen, Eckstein, Ruthen, or Gelb. In the 
German notation of card games and problems, the suits are indi- 
cated by the French terms : clubs, tr for trefle ; spades, p for 
pique ; hearts, co for cceur ; diamonds, car for carreau. The 
cards are indicated by the initials ; AKDBZ987, which stand 
for As, Konig, Dame, Bube, Zehn, etc. The winning card in each 
trick is always printed in full-faced type. 

The cards of each suit are divided into two parts, known as 
counting cards, Zahlkarten, and those having no counting value ; 
Fehlkarten, or Ladons. The counting cards and their values 
are as follows: — Ace 11, Ten 10, King 4, Queen 3, and Jack 2. 
These are used in reckoning up the value of the tricks won by each 
side in counting toward 61 in all the " games," but not in Nullo. 
The Seven, Eight and Nine have no counting value. 

The rank of the suits has no influence on their trick-taking 
powers, nor on the value of the Zahlkarten ; but it increases or 
diminishes the value of the " game " played for. When any suit 
is made the trump, it takes the precedence of the three others 
only in so far as trumps will win other suits, and the suits which 
are not trumps are equal in value so far as trick-taking is con- 
cerned. As the four Wenzels are always the highest trumps, 
there will always be eleven cards in the trump suit, and seven in 
each of the plain suits; so that if clubs were trumps, the rank of 
the cards would be : — 




MATADORES. 



(Skat) 299 



In any of the other suits the rank would be : — 



9 


*** 


i 



» 4> 



V 




V 



Matadores, The club Jack is always the best trump, and 
every trump card in unbroken sequence with the club Jack is 
called a Matadore, provided the sequence is in the hand of the 
same player. This rule holds whether the sequence was in the 
hand originally dealt to him or part of it is found in the Skat, 
should he become possessed of the Skat cards. For instance : 
Clubs are trumps, and a player holds these cards : — 




* 




*** 
*** 




*** 

* * 

*** 



4» * 



He has only one Matadore ; but as the Skat cards will belong 
to him if he has made the trump, he may find in them the spade 
Jack, which would complete his sequence, giving him six Mata- 
dores, instead of one. As one side or the other must have the 
club Jack in every deal, there must always be a certain number of 
Matadores, from one to eleven. If the player who makes the 
trump has them, he is said to play ivith so many ; if his adver- 
saries hold them, he is said to play without just as many as they 
hold. The difficult thing for the beginner at Skat to understand 
is that whether a player holds the Matadores or not, the number 
of them has exactly the same influence on the value of his game. 
If one player held these cards 









and wished to make hearts trumps, he would be playing "with 
two." If another player wished to make the same suit trumps 
with these cards : — 




9 <? 



he would be playing " without two," and the value of each game 
would be exactly the same, no matter which player actually made 
the trump. Matadores must be held ; they do not count if won 
from the adversaries in the course of play. 



300 (Skat) PLAYERS. 

MARKERS, Counters of any kind are not used in Skat, as 
the score is kept on a writing pad, which should be ruled into 
vertical columns for the number of players engaged. 

JPLA YERS, Skat is played by three persons. If there are 
four at the table the dealer takes no cards, but shares the fortunes 
of those who are opposed to the single player, winning and losing 
on each hand whatever they win and lose. If there are five or six 
at the table, the dealer gives cards to the two on his left, and the 
one next him on the right. Those holding no cards share the for- 
tunes of the two who are opposed to the single player. 

After the table is formed, no one can join the game without the 
consent of all those already in, and then only after a round / 
that is, after each player at the table has had an equal number of 
deals. Should any player cut into a table during the progress of 
a game, he must take his seat at the right of the player who dealt 
the first hand. When six persons offer for play, it is much better 
to form two tables, but some persons object to playing continu- 
ously, and like the rest given to the dealer when more than three 
play. 

There are always three active players in Skat. The one who 
makes the trump is called the player, or Spieler ; the two op- 
posed to him are called the adversaries, or Gegners ; while 
those who hold no cards are called im Skat, or Theilnehmer. 
Of the three active players, the one who leads for the first trick is 
called Vorhand ; the second player is called Mittelhand, and 
the third Hinterhand, The person sitting on the dealer's 
right, to whom the cards are presented to be cut, is called the 
pone. 

No person is allowed to withdraw from the game without giv- 
ing notice in advance, and he can retire only at the end of a round 
of deals. It is usual to give notice at the beginning of a round, 
by saying : " This is my last." 

CUTTING, Positions at the table are drawn for, the cards 
ranking as in play, Jacks being the best, and the suits outranking 
one another in order, so that there can be no ties in cutting. 
The lowest cut has the first choice of seats, and also deals the 
first hand. It is usual for the player sitting on the right of the 
first dealer to keep the score, so that one may always know when 
a round ends. 

STAKES, Skat is played for so much a point, and the single 
player wins from or loses to each of the others at the table. A 
cent a point is considered a pretty stiff game, half a cent being 
more common in good clubs. Many play for a fifth, or even a 
tenth of a cent a point. At half a cent a point, ten dollars will 
usually cover a run of pretty bad luck in an evening's play. 
DEALING. At the beginning of the game the cards should 



DEALING. (Skat) 301 

be counted and thoroughly shuffled, and shuffled at least three 
times before each deal thereafter. The dealer presents the pack 
to the pone to be cut, and at least five cards must be left in each 
packet. The cards are dealt from left to right in rotation, and the 
deal passes to the left in regular order. 

Only three persons at the table receive cards, no matter how- 
many are in the game. If there are are four players, the dealer 
gives himself no cards. If there are five or six players, the first 
two on the dealer's left and the pone receive cards. The other 
persons at the table are said to be " im Skat," because they are 
laid aside for that deal. 

The cards may be distributed in several ways, but whichever 
manner the first dealer selects must be continued during the game, 
both by the original dealer, and by the others at the table. Ten 
cards are given to each player, and two are dealt face downward 
in the centre of the table for the Skat. No trump is turned. The 
cards must be dealt, three cards to each player, then two to the 
Skat, then four to each player again, and finally three. 

Irregularities in the Deal. If the pack is found to be im- 
perfect, the deal in which the error is discovered is void ; but any 
previous scores or cuts made with that pack stand good. If the 
cards have not been cut, or if a card is found faced in the pack, or 
if the dealer exposes a card in dealing, any active player who has 
not looked at his cards may demand a fresh deal by the same 
dealer. If the dealer gives too many or too few cards to any 
player, he must shuffle and deal again. If the error is not dis- 
covered until the hand is partly played out, the deal is void, and 
the misdealer deals again. A misdeal does not lose the deal under 
any circumstances, but it is usual to exact a penalty of ten points 
for a misdeal. 

OBJECTS OF THE GAME. The object of each player 
is to obtain the privilege of attempting to accomplish a certain 
task, which is known as his " game," and which he must be able 
to carry through successfully against the combined efforts of the 
two other players. The more difficult the task undertaken, the 
greater the number of points scored for it, and the player who 
will undertake the game which is of the greatest value of those 
offered must be allowed the privilege of trymg it. In order to 
determine which player this is, they may all bid for the privilege by 
naming a certain number of points, usually well within the actual 
value of the game they intend to play. If a bidder meets with 
opposition, he gradually approaches the true value of his game, 
and the player whose game is worth the most will of course be 
able to bid the greatest number of points, and must be selected as 
the player, the two others being his adversaries. 

Games. These games are divided into two principal classes, 
those in which the player undertakes to win, and those in which 
he tries to lose. When he plays to lose, it is to lose every trick. 



302 (Skat) VARIOUS GAMES. 

there being no trump suit, and the cards in each suit ranking A K 
,Q J 10 9 8 7. These games are called Nidi, or Nullo. and Null 
Ouvert, the latter being played with the successful bidder's cards 
exposed face upward on the table, but not liable to be called. The 
moment he wins a trick in a Nuilo, he loses his game. Nullos 
are quite foreign to Skat, and appear to have been introduced as a 
consolation for players who always hold bad cards.* 

When Ramsch is played, the object is to take less than either 
of the other players ; but the cards rank as in the ordinary game, 
except that the four Jacks are the only trumps. 
I In all other games the successful bidder undertakes to win ; but 
his success does not depend on the number of tricks he takes in, 
but on the total value of the counting cards contained in those 
tricks. The total value of all the counting cards is 120 points, 
and to be successful, the single player must win at least 61. If he 
succeeds in winning 61 or more points, he wins his game, what- 
ever it may be. If he can get 91 points, he wins a double game, 
which is called Schneider. If he can take every trick, he wins a 
treble game, which is called Schwartz. It is not enough to win 
120 points, for if the adversaries win a single trick, even if it con- 
tains no counting cards, they save the schwartz. 

If the single player fails to reach 61, he loses. If he fails to 
reach 31, he is Schneider; and if he fails to take a trick he is 
schwartz. These various results increase the value of the game, 
as will presently be seen. 

There are four varieties of games in which the successful bidder 
plays to win, the difference being in the manner of using the skat 
cards, and making the trump. These games are called Frage, 
Tourne, Solo, and Grand, and they outrank one another in the 
order given, Frage being the lowest. The first three: Frage, 
Tourne and Solo, are each again divided into four parts, according 
to the suit which is trumps ; a Tourne in clubs being better than 
one in spades ; a Solo in hearts being better than one in diamonds, 
and so on. This is in accordance with the rank of the suits already 
mentioned in the paragraph devoted to that subject. 

In a Frage" , or Simple Game, the successful bidder takes both 
the skat cards into his hand, and then declares which suit shall be 
the trump ; discarding two cards face downward for his schatz, or 
treasure, before play begins. The two cards thus laid aside count 
for the single player at the end of the hand, provided he takes a 
trick, and they cannot be won by the adversaries unless they make 
the single player schwarz. Frage is no longer played. 

In a Tourne, the successful bidder turns one of the skat cards 
face upward on the table before looking at the second card. He 
may turn over whichever card he pleases, but the one he turns 
fixes the trump suit for that hand. If the card turned over is a 
Jack, he may change to a Grand ; but he must do so before he sees 
the second card in the Skat. 



VARIOUS GAMES. 



(Skat) 303 



If the player does not like the first card he turns, he need not 
show it, but may put it in his hand and turn the other. This sec- 
ond one must be the trump ; or a Grand may be played if the card 
is a Jack. In case the game is lost after taking the second card, it 
costs double. This is called Passt mir Nicht. 

In a Solo, the skat cards are not touched, the successful bidder 
naming the trump to suit the hand of ten cards originally dealt him. 
The Skat belongs to him, as in Frage and Tourne, but he must not 
see its contents until the hand is played out, when any points and 
Matadores it may contain will count for him. 

In a Grand there is no trump suit, the four Jacks being the 
only trumps in play. These four cards preserve their relative suit 
value, the club Jack being the best, and they are still Matadores. 
There are four varieties of Grand : A tourne' player may make 
it a Grand if he turns up a Jack. This is called a Grand 
Tourne. A player may make it a grand without seeing either 
of the skat cards. This is called a Grand Solo. A player may 
announce a Grand and lay his cards face upon the table; exposed, 
but not liable to be called. This is called a Grand Ouvert. A 
Frage cannot be played as a Grand under any circumstances. A 
player may announce Gucki Grand, which means that he will 
take both the skat cards into his hand at once, in order to get the 
privilege of laying out any two cards he pleases, but that Jacks 
will be the only trumps. If a Gucki Grand is lost, it costs 
double. 

A player may announce a Gucki Nullo, in which he takes 
both the skat cards into his hand and lays out any two cards he 
pleases. This loses double if it is not successful. 

Revolution is seldom played. It is a Nullo in which the ad- 
versaries put their twenty cards together as one hand to see if they 
can make the player take a trick. 

Uno and Duo are Grands, in which the single player engages 
to take one trick in Uno, or two in Duo, neither more nor less. 

GAME VALUES. Each of the foregoing games has what 
is called a unit of value, which is afterward multiplied several 
times according to the number of Matadores, and whether the 
game was Schneider or schwarz. 

These unit values are as follows, beginning with the lowest : 



Suits Trumps : — 


Jacks Trumps : — 


No Trumps : — 





Turn 

I 

7 

8 


Solo 
9 

10 

ii 

12 


Turned Grand 12 
Gucki Grand.. 16 
Solo Grand. . . 20 
Open Grand . . 24 
Ramsch 20 


Gucki Nullo 15 

" if played open 30 


* 


" if played open 40 
Revolution 60 



304 (Skat) GAME VALUES. 

When one player takes no trick in a Ramsch, the player with the 
greater number of points loses 30. If two players take no trick, 
the loss is 50 points. 

All Guckis lose double if they fail, so that if a player 
announces a Gucki Nullo and loses it, he will lose 30; but if he 
won it he would get 15 only. If a player has a Gucki Null Ouvert, 
he must announce that it is to be played open before he touches 
the skat cards. It is then worth 30 if won; 60 if lost. 

Passt-mir-nicht tournees all lose double if tJiey fail, 

but win the usual number of points if they succeed. 

Multipliers, The foregoing are simply the standard counting 
values of these various games. In calculating the actual value of 
a player's game, in order to see how much he may safely offer in the 
bidding, and how much he would win if successful in his under- 
taking, these standard values are multiplied as follows : — 

Five classes of games are recognized, beginning with the lowest, 
in which the player gets the necessary 61 points, but does not make 
his adversaries Schneider. This is simply called " game," and as 
it must always be either won or lost, it is a constant factor. The 
value of the game is 1, and each better game is numbered in regu- 
lar order, the five varieties being as follows : 

The Game, 1. Schneider, 2. Schwarz announced or Schwarz, 3. 
Schwarz after announcing Schneider, 4. Schwarz announced, 5. 

These numbers are added to the number of Matadores, and the 
total thus found is multiplied by the unit value of the game. For 
instance : A player has obtained the privilege of playing on a bid 
of thirty. His game is a Solo in hearts, in which he holds the three 
highest Matadores and announces Schneider in advance. His game 
multiplier is therefore 3 (for the announced Schneider), to which he 
adds 3 more for the Matadores, 6 altogether. The unit value of a 
heart Solo being 10, he could have gone on bidding to 60 had it 
been necessary, and he will win 60 from each of his adversaries if 
he succeeds in reaching 91 points in the counting cards he takes 
in in his tricks, together with what he finds in the Skat. 

If his adversaries got to 30 with their counting cards, he would 
have lost 60 to each of them, although he bid only 30, because he 
announced his game as Schneider, and did not make it. Had he 
not announced the Schneider, and reached 91 or more in his count- 
ing cards, he would have won a game worth 50, losing the extra 
multiplier by not announcing the Schneider in advance; for a 
Schneider made without announcing it is worth only 2. 

In reckoning the value of a game it is always safer to bid on 
playing " with " than " without " Matadores in a Solo or Tourne" ; 
because, although you may have a hand " without four," you may 
find a Wenzel in the Skat, and if it is the club Jack you lose three 
multipliers at once. 



BIDDING. (Skat.) 305 

BIDDING. The players must be familiar with the manner 
of computing the various games in order to bid with judgment, 
and without hesitation. Suppose you hold the three highest 
Matadores with an average hand, not strong enough in any one 
suit to play a Solo, but good enough for a Tourne. Your small- 
est possible game will be diamonds with three ; which will be 
worth 5 multiplied by 4 ; i for the game, and 3 for the Matadores, 
20 points. If you can get the game on any bid less than 20 
you are absolutely safe, provided you can reach 61 in your tricks. 
But the opposition of another player may irritate you, [reizen,] 
and provoke you to bid 24, or even 28, in the hope of turning 
a heart or a spade. If you go beyond 20, and turn a diamond, 
you must either find the fourth Matadore in the Skat, or make 
your adversaries Schneider, in order to secure another multiplier. 
If you fail, you lose 24, or 28, according to your bid. 

The great difficulty in Skat is to judge the value of a hand, so 
as neither to under nor overbid it, and also to get all out of it that 
it is worth. A person who plays a Frage in hearts when he 
could easily have made it a Solo, reduces the value of his game 
just eighty per cent. A player with the four Wenzels, A KQ98 
of diamonds, and a losing card, would be foolish to play a diamond 
Solo with five, Schneider announced, worth 72 ; while he had in 
his hand a sure Grand, with four, Schneider announced, worth 140. 
Of course the Schneider is not a certainty. The risk is that the 
Ten of diamonds will be guarded, and that an Ace and a Ten 
will make, both of them on your losing card, or one of them on the 
diamond Ten. A careful player would be satisfied with 100 on 
such a hand, for if he fails to make the announced Schneider, he 
loses everything. 

A player is not obliged to play the game he originally intended 
to, if he thinks he has anything better; but he must play a game 
worth as much as he bid, or the next higher, and having once 
announced his game, he must play it. 

Suppose Vorhand has a spade Solo with two, and on being 
offered 3$ says, " Yes," thinking the bidder will go on to 36, in- 
stead of which he passes. It is very probable that the bidder has 
a spade Solo without two, and will defeat a spade Solo announced 
by Vorhand. If Vorhand has almost as good a game in hearts, 
he should change, hoping, to make Schneider, or to find another 
Matadore in the Skat. If he loses the game, a heart Solo with. 
two costs 30 points ; but as Vorhand refused 33, and the next 
best game he could have made with a heart Solo is 40, that is the 
amount he loses, although he refused only 33. 

Method of Bidding, The Vorhand always holds the play, 
and the Mittelhand always makes the first bid, or passes, the Hin- 
terhand saying nothing until the propositions made by the Mittel- 



306 (Skat.) BIDDING. 

hand have been finally refused or passed by the Vorhand. The 
usual formula is for the Vorhand to say, " How many? " or, " I 
am Vorhand," whereupon the Mittelhand bids or passes. If 
Vorhand has as good a game as offered him he says, " Yes," and 
Mittelhand must bid higher or pass. If Vorhand has not as good a 
game he may either pass, or bluff the bidder into going higher by 
saying, " Yes." As soon as one passes, the other turns to the 
Hinterhand, who must either make a higher bid than the last, or 
pass. The survivor of the first two must either say, "Yes," to 
the offers made by Hinterhand, or pass. The final survivor then 
announces his game. It is usual for the last one to pass to signify 
that he is done by pushing the skat cards toward the survivor, 
indicating that they are his, and that he is the player. If a player 
is offered a game equal to his own he may still say, " Yes ; " but 
if he is offered a better game, and still says, " Yes," he runs the 
risk of being compelled to play. 

The old German way of bidding, adopted at the Skat Con- 
gresses in Altenburg, Leipzig and Dresden, was to bid in suits ; a 
bid of club Solo outranking one of spade Solo, no matter what it 
was worth. This has long been obsolete, the objection to it being 
that a player might get the play on a game of much inferior value. 
A player with a spade Solo, six Matadores, and Schneider an- 
nounced could offer only a spade Solo, without mentioning its 
value, and although his game was worth 99, he could be outbid 
by an offer of Nullo, which was then worth only 20. This is con- 
trary to the spirit of the game, which requires that the person 
offering the game of the greatest value shall be the player. The 
rank of the bids in the old German game was as follows, begin- 
ning with the lowest : — 

Frage, in the order of the suits. 

Tourne, in the order of the suits. 

Grand Tourne. 

Solo in diamonds, hearts and spades. 

Nullo, worth 20. 

Solo in clubs. 

Grand Solo, worth 16. 

Null ouvert, worth 40. 

Grand ouvert. 

The multipliers were the same as those used in the modern 
game, but the player had no means of using them in his bids. It 
will be observed that the modern value of the various games seeks 
to preserve the old rank by assuming the lowest possible bid on 
any given game. 

In some parts of Germany ii is still the custom to reckon Solos 
at the tourne' values, simply adding one multiplier for " out of 



SKAT CARDS. (Skat) 307 

hand.*' Thus a spade Solo with two would be reckoned ; " with 
two, one for game, one for out of hand ; four times seven, or twenty- 
eight." Note that seven is tourne' value for spades. 

THE SKAT CARDS. Th'e successtul bidder determined, 
the skat cards are pushed towards him, and the manner in which 
he uses them limits the game he is allowed to play. While the 
player must win or lose a game worth as many as bid, he may 
attempt to win as many more as he pleases. If he has got the 
play on a bid of ten, that does not prevent him from playing a club 
Solo, with schneicer announced. But if he has bid or refused 
eleven, and plays a tourne in diamonds, he must make Schneider 
or play with or without twc Matadores in order to bring his multi- 
pliers up to three. It bofh these fail him he loses 15, the next 
higher game than his bid possible in a diamond tourne\ 

As Frage is no longer played on account of its small value, if 
the player takes both the skat cards into his hand at the same time, 
without showing them, his game must be a Gucki Grand, unless he 
has previously announced that it is a Gucki Nullo. His game an- 
nounced, he lays out any two cards he pleases for his skat, so as to 
play with ten only. 

If the player turns over either of the skat cards, his game is 
limited to a tourae*. If he turns a Jack, he may change to Grand, 
but not to Grand Ouvert. Neither Schneider nor schwarz can be 
announced in any game in which the skat cards are used. A 
tourne player must lay out two skat cards to reduce his hand to 
ten cards. 

If the player neither turns over nor takes into his hand either 
of the skat cards, he may play any of the suit Solos, Grand 
Solo> Grand Ouvert, Nullo, or Null Ouvert. He may announce 
Schneider or schwarz in any Solo. 

Any player looking at the skat cards before the beginning of the 
play is debarred from bidding that deal, and is penalised ten 
points in the score. In addition to this penalty, either oi the other 
players may demand a fresh deal. If a player looks at the skat 
cards during the play of a hand the play is immediately stopped, 
and if he is the single player he can count only the points taken in 
up to that time, exclusive of the skat. These points are deducted 
from 120, and his adversaries claim the difference. The game is 
then settled, according to this count, exactly as if the hand had 
been played out. If an adversary of the single player looks at 
either of the skat cards during the play of a hand, the single 
player may at once stop the game, and his adversaries can count 
only the points they have taken in in tricks up to that time. If they 
have no tricks they are schwartz ; if they have not 30 points they 
are Schneider. 

When four or more play, any person holding no cards may be 
penalised ten points for looking at the skat cards. 



308 (Skat.) PLAYING. 

METHOD Or PLAYING. The successful bidder hav- 
ing disposed of the skat cards and announced his game, the Vor- 
nand leads any card he pleases for the first trick. Vorhand should 
be careful not to lead until the player has laid out or discarded for 
the Skat in a Gucki or a Tournd. Players must follow suit if they 
can, but are not obliged to win the trick. Having none of the suit 
led, they may trump or discard at pleasure. The highest card 
played, if of the suit led, wins the trick, and trumps win all other 
suits. The winner of the first trick leads for the next, and so on, 
until all the cards have been played, or the game is acknowledged 
as won or lost, and abandoned. In a Grand, if a Jack is led, 
players must follow suit with the other Jacks, they being trumps. 

Abandoned Sands. If the single player finds he has over- 
bid himself, or sees that he cannot make as good a game as bid, he 
may abandon his hand to save himself from being made Schneider 
or schwarz, provided he does so before he plays to the second 
trick. A Solo cannot be abandoned in this manner, as the rule is 
made only to allow a player to get off cheaply who has been un- 
lucky in finding nothing in the Skat to suit his hand. For instance : 
A player has risked a Tourne' with a missing suit, and turns up that 
suit. He can abandon his hand at once, losing his bid or the next 
higher game, but escaping schneider. 

Irregularities in the Hands. If, during the play of a 
hand, any person is found to have too many or too few cards, the 
others having their right number, it is evident that there has been 
no misdeal if the pack is perfect and there are two cards in the 
Skat. If the player in error has too few cards, probably from hav- 
ing dropped one on the floor, or having played two cards to the 
same trick, he loses in any case, but the adversary may demand to 
have the hand played out in order to try for schneider or schwarz, 
and the last trick, with the missing card, must be considered as 
having been won by the side not in fault. If the player in fault is 
opposed to the single player, his partner suffers with him. If the 
player discovers his loss, he is not allowed to pick the card from 
the floor and replace it in his hand if he has in the meantime played 
to a trick with a wrong number of cards. 

Playing Out of Turn. The usual penalty in America for 
leading or playing out of turn is the loss of the game if the error is 
made by the adversaries of the single player. If by the player him- 
self, the card played in error must be taken back, and if only one 
adversary has played to the false lead, he may also take back his 
card. If both have played, the trick stands good. The "single 
player suffers no penalty, as it is only to his own disadvantage to 
expose his hand. 

The Revoke. If a player revokes, and he is one of the adver- 
saries of the single player, the game is lost for the player in error 



REVOKES. 



(Skat.) 309 



but he may count the points in his tricks up to the time the revoke 
occurred, in order to save Schneider or schwarz. In Nullos, the 
game is lost the moment the revoke is discovered. 

Seeing Tricks. The tricks must be kept separate as they are 
taken in, and any player is allowed to look at the last trick turned 
and quitted. Any player looking at any other trick but the last 
may be penalized ten points. 

Playing Ouverts. The rules of the game require Ouverts to 
be exposed face upward on the table before a card is played. 

SCOHING. The score should always be kept by the player 
sitting on the right of the first dealer. This will mark the rounds. 
The score sheet should be ruled in vertical columns, one for each 
player at the table. 

Each player is charged individually with his losses and gains, 
the amounts being added to or deducted from his score, and a plus 
or a minus mark placed in front of the last figure, so that the ex- 
act state of each player's score will be apparent at a glance. 

The score of the single player is the only one put down, and it 
is charged to him as a loss or a gain at the end of each deal. 

If there are four players, a line is drawn under every fourth 
amount entered in each person's account. If three play, the line 
is drawn under every third amount. This system of scoring will 
show at once whose turn it is to deal, if the total number of 
amounts under which no line is drawn are counted up. For in- 
stance : Three persons play ; A dealt the first hand. In the first 
three columns are shown the amounts won and lost in the three 
rounds, while the last three columns show the manner in which 
these losses and gains were entered on the score sheet : — 

Points won and lost. Score Card. 



ist Round. 



A won 33 
C won 55 
C won 12 



2nd Round. 



A lost 1 6 
B won 40 
A lost 24 



3rd Round. 



C lost 36 
B won 48 
C lost 12 





A 


B 


C 


+ 33 
+ '7 
— 7 


+ 40 
+ 88 


+ 55 

+ 67 

+ 3* 




+ 19 



At the end of the second round a line was drawn under A's 
account, which then contained three items ; and after the first game 
in the third round a line was drawn under C's account. 

If we suppose the game to be stopped at this point, the scores 
would be balanced as follows : 

We take the three scores and bring them down on one line. 
We draw a line under them, and proceed as follows : First we take 



310 (Skat) 



SCORING. 



A, who has lost 7 to B, and from whom B has also won 88. This 
gives us 95 minus for A and 95 plus for B. We then compare 
A and C, and find that A owes C 
26 ; put down as minus for A, plus 
for C. We now compare B and C, 
and find that B wins the difference, 
which is 69 pouits ; put down plus 
for B, minus for C. Then we add 
up to see that the scores balance. 

The same method may be used 
when four play ; but some prefer 
to call the lowest score zero, and 
so make all the others plus. Sup- 
pose the final scores were as follows: 



A 


B 


C 


- 7 


+ 88 


+ 19 


-95 

-26 


+ 95 
+ 69 


+ 26 
-69 


— 121 


+ 164 


-43 



A 


B 


C 


D 


+ 186 


+ 42 


+ 344 


+ 116 


+ 144 

+ 4 



4 


+ 3 02 
4 


+ 74 
4 


= 520 


+ 576 
— 520 



— 520 


+ 1208 
— 520 


+ 296 

-520 


+ 56 


— 520 


+ 688 


— 224 



If B is zero, his points are to be taken from those of each of the 
others, as B is plus. If the low score is a minus, the points must 
be added to each of the others. The three totals are added, and 
found, in this case, to be 520, which is the total of B's loss. We 
now multiply the scores by the number of players engaged, in this 
case four, and from the product we deduct the 520 already found. 
Then the scores balance. 

When Skat is played for the League stake, which is one-fourth 
of a cent a point, the results may be found in a still shorter way by 
adding up all the scores and taking an average, this average being 
the sum divided by the number of players. Take the results just 
given for example : — 



A 


B 


C 


D 


186 
172. 


42 
172 


344 
172 


116 

172 


= 688-7-4 = 


172 


+ 14 


-130 


+ 172 


-56 



GOOD PLAY. 



(Skat) 311 



The average is simply deducted from each score, and the re- 
mainder is the amount won or lost, in cents. 

CHEATING. As in all games in which the cards are dealt 
in groups, the greek will find many opportunities in Skat. The 
clumsiest shuffler can usually locate some of the Wenzels at the 
top or the bottom of the pack, before presenting it to be cut, and 
if the players do not insist on the cards being dealt always in the 
same manner, the sharper can secure to himself two or more Wen- 
zels, either in his hand or in the Skat. Any person who deals the 
cards sometimes three at a time, and again five at a time, should 
be stopped immediately, and no such excuses as changing his luck 
should be listened to for a moment. Any person who habitually 
picks up the cards with their faces towards him, and straightens 
them by lifting them from their positions in the pack, should be 
stopped at once, and requested to straighten the cards face down. 

Dealing seconds is very difficult when the cards have to be 
«' pinched " in threes and fours. A second dealer holding back a 
Wenzel on the top may give his adversary two underneath without 
knowing it. Marked cards are of advantage only when the dealer 
plays, and are of little use beyond telling him what he can turn up 
for a trump, or what he will find in the Skat. The rule for having 
four in the game, if possible, is one of the greatest safeguards, un- 
less the dealer is in secret partnership with one of the players. 

SUGGESTIONS FOB, GOOD PLAT. The chief 

things to master in Skat are the values of the hands, the principles 
of bidding on them, the best methods of playing them, and the 
proper methods of combining forces with your partner for the time 
being, in order to defeat the single player. 

Bidding. Some persons attach a great deal of importance to 
the odds for and against certain cards being in the Skat. If a 
player without three is forced to risk finding a Matadore in the 
Skat, it is usually enough for him to know that the odds are about 
3 to i against it. It is much more important for him to consider 
what cards may make against him, and what they would count. 
It is often necessary to estimate very closely the number of points 
that must fall on a certain number of leads. For instance : You 
are Vorhand, and hold these cards : — ■ 







*7* 



* 



V 



o 



V 

♦ ♦ 



Even if you find the Ace and Ten with the best Wenzel in one 
hand against you, you have an 'almost certain club Solo, for if you 
lead a Wenzel, your adversary must either take it, or give you the 
Ace or Ten. If he wins it, and his partner gives him a Ten of 



312 (Skat.) 



GOOD PLAY. 



another suit, and they then proceed to make both the Aces and 
Tens of your weak suits, that will give them only 56 points, and 
you will make every other trick. The only thing that could defeat 
you is for one player on the fourth trick to' lead a suit of which his 
partner had none. This would require one player to have all the 
spades and the other all the hearts, which is almost impossible. 

Another familiar example is the following : You are Vorhand 
with these cards : — 
















V 

o o 

0% 



IV 



o 



Although you cannot possibly win more than six tricks, and 
must lose every trick in the red suits, you have an invincible 
Grand ; because the adversaries have not a sufficient number of 
Fehlkarten to give you to avoid adding 16 points to the 46 you al- 
ready have in your hand, which must make you 62 before they get 
a trick. 

It is better to bid on a doubtful Solo than on a risky Tourn6 , 
and if you have a choice of two numerically equal suits, it is better 
to bid on a suit containing small cards in preference to one con- 
taining A 10. In bidding Tournes, you must remember that the 
more cards you hold of a suit, the less your chance to turn up one. 

It is not good play to bid a Solo on four or five trumps unless 
you have some aces in the other suits. A Grand may be bid even 
without a trump, if you have the lead, and hold four aces, or three 
aces and four Tens. A Grand with any two Wenzels is safe if 
you have two good suits. A Nullo should never be bid unless the 
player has the Seven of his long suit. 

A certain amount of risk must be taken in all bids, and a player 
who never offers a game that is not perfectly safe is called a 
Maurer ; one who builds on a solid foundation. The player 
who offers the most games will usually win the most unless he is a 
very poor player. 

Leading. The single player should almost always begin with 
the trumps, in order to get them out of his way. With a 
sequence of Wenzels, it is a common artifice to begin with the 
lowest, hoping the second player may fatten the trick by discard- 
ing a Ten or Ace, under the impression that the Hinterhand can 
win it. This style of underplay is called Wiminelflnte, and the 
Mittelhand should beware of it. With only one Wenzel and the 
Ace and Ten, it is better to begin with a small trump. If you find 
all the trumps in one hand against you, or tenace over you, stop 
leading trumps, and play forcing cards. 

If you have no Wenzels it is usually best to lead your smallest 
trumps. If you have only Ace Ten and small trumps, and know 



ADVERSARIES' FLAY. (Skat.) 313 

the adversaries have one Wenzel and one trump better than your 
small one, lead your Ten, so that they cannot make both trumps. 
In playing for a Schneider, it is often advisable to continue the 
trumps, even after the adversaries are exhausted, so that they shall 
not know which suit to keep for the last trick. 

Laying out tlie Skat, In a Frage or a Tourne, some judg- 
ment is required in discarding for the Skat. It is often necessary 
to lay aside the Ace and Ten of trumps if there is any danger that 
the adversaries may catch them. Unguarded Tens should always 
be laid out, and it is a good general principle to get rid of one 
suit entirely, so that you can trump it. It is a common practice 
to put in the Skat the Ace and Ten of a suit of which you hold 
also the King. When you lead the King, if Mittelhand has none 
of the suit he is sure to fatten the trick for his partner, thinking 
he must have Ace or Ten. With the Ten, King, and small cards 
of a plain suit, lay the Ten and King in the Skat. 

The Adversaries should combine against the single player by 
getting him between them if possible. If .you sit on the left of the 
player, lead your short suits up to him ; but if you sit on his right, 
lead your longest suit through him. Try to force out his trumps 
on your plain-suit cards if you can, and avoid giving him discards 
of his weak suits. With a long trump suit, it is often advantage- 
ous to lead it through the player, but seldom right to lead it up to 
him. 

In Solos, the adversaries should lead Aces and winning cards, 
and change suits frequently. If you are playing against a Grand, 
and have two trumps, one of them the best, lead it, and then play 
your long suit ; but if you have the two smallest trumps, lead the 
long suit first, and force with it every time you get in. 

The partners should always scheme to protect each other's Tens 
by keeping the Aces of plain suits. For this reason it is very 
bad play to fatten with the Ace of a suit of which you have 
not the Ten, or to play an Ace third hand when there are only 
small cards in the trick, and the Ten of the suit has not been played 
and you do not hold it. 

If the player is void of a suit, continue leading it, no matter 
what you hold in it. This will either weaken his trumps, or, if he 
is between you, will give your partner discards. 

If the player leads a Wenzel, it is usually best to cover it if you 
can ; but do not play the club Jack on the diamond Jack unless 
you want the lead very badly. 

When the single player does not lead trumps, but plays his Aces 
and Tens, the Germans call it " auf die Dorfer gehen ; " that is, 
getting to the villages, or getting home ; equivalent to our expres- 
sion, " getting out of the woods," or " getting in out of the rain." 
When the single player runs for home in this way, it is usually 
best to lead trumps through him at the first opportunity. 



314 (Skat) 



ILLUSTRATIVE HANDS. 



In playing against a Nullo, the great point is to give your part- 
ner discards. If you find that the player's long suit is yours also, 
continue it until your partner has discarded an entire suit if pos- 
sible. If you then have the small card of the discarded suit, you 
may defeat the Nullo at once. 

Fattening, The Germans call this Wimmeln, or " swarm- 
ing" the points together in one trick. It is always advisable to 
get rid of Tens in this way, or Aces of suits in which you hold 
both Ace and Ten ; but it is bad play to fatten with the Ace of a 
suit of which you have not the Ten, unless the trick wins the games 
from the player, or saves a very probable Schneider. 

The following Illustrative Ilands will give the student a 
very good idea of the manner in which the various forms of the • 
game are played, showing the difference in the play of a Tournej, 
Solo, and Grand. 

A TO URNE. A, Vorhand, has refused ten with the following 
cards, Hinterhand. having passed without a bid : — 




A concludes to play a Tourne, and turns the heart 9? Q, finding 
the King in the Skat. He lays out the 4 io and * 9 in the 
Skat, and expects to make 12 points; a heart Tourne, with one 
Matadore. The play is given in the margin. A is the player, 
and is also Vorhand, with the lead for the first trick. Hearts are 
trumps. 

The manner in which A ex- 
hausts the trumps, and makes 
both his Ace and King of 
diamonds, should be carefully 
studied. At trick 8, if he put 
on the ace of clubs, B might' 
have the 8, and he would lose 
both his King and the Queen 
on the Ten, giving him only 
60 points. It must be remem- 
bered that A knows every card 
out against him, because he 
has seen the skat cards. A 
wins his 12 points ; a heart 
Tourne with one. 

A SOLO. Vorhand has 
refused a bid of 18, and an- 
nounces spade Solo with the 
following cards : — 





A TOURNE. 






A 


B 


C 


A 
wins. 


I 


* J 


V 7 


J 


4 


2 


<2 Q 


V A 


<2 8 


- 


3 


&& 


9 


QO 


7 


4 


<3 J 


J * 


A * 


- 


5 


<21Q 


V 9 


7 * 


10 


b 


AJL 


* 7 


8 


11 


7 


70 


K * 


1O0_ 


- 


8 


* K 


410 


* 9 


- 


8 


S> K 


Q * 


8 * 


7 


10 


♦ A 


*Q 


* 8 


14 
10 


♦ 10 and * 9 in the Scat. 


A wins 63 



ILLUSTRATIVE HANDS. 



(Skat.) 315 



n 


m 


* * 

*** 


*** 

4» * 




9? 




* 


0% 









A SOLO. 






A 


B 


C 


A 
wins. 


I 

2 

3 


S * 

* A 

9 A 


Q * 


ff_J 

*7 

loo 


15 


4 


7 


AO 


QO 


- 


5 
6 


8 
<P A 


K_0_ 
9 K 


*Q 

<? 8 


15 


7 


syio 


V 7 


<3 9 


IO 


8 
9 

IO 


1Q4> 

J * 

A * 


7 « 
* J 


* 8 

* 9 


IO 
IO 


9 and & io in the Scat. 


A wins 6o 



He has the lead for the first 
trick, and of course begins 
with the trumps. The play is 
given in the margin. 

C wins the first trick, and 
leads his long suit through the 
player. In the last three tricks 
A coaxes B to win the Ten of 
trumps ; but if B does so he 
gives up the advantage of his 
tenace over the player, which 
is now the only chance to 
defeat him. B knows that if 
he wins the Ten of trumps, 
B and C can make only 59 
points, because A will save 
his trump Ace. 

A, having failed to reach 61, 
loses a spade Solo without 
one; twice n, or 22 points, 
which was the game he must 
of 18 which he refused. 



have won to be as good as the of£> 

A GRAND, B bids ; both Vorhand and Hinterhand 
and B announces a Grand, with the following cards : — 



pass, 




The play is given in the margin. In a Grand the four Jacl 
the only trumps. 

A has the first play, and as he leads through the player, he begins 
with his long suit, of which he knows that the Ace alone is out, 
and it may be in the skat. If the player has the Ace, C will prob- 
ably trump it. If the player has not the Ace, it is just possible 
that he will not trump the Ten. 

C, leading up to the player, opens his short weak suit. 
At trick 3, C knows that A must have the Ten- of hearts, 
or he would not fatten with the Ace. As this shows that A 
can stop the heart suit, C guards the spades and lets all his 
hearts go. 

B loses a very strong Grand, which must have been successful if 



316 (Skat) 



ILLUSTRATIVE HANDS. 



C had had one club, or if A had led anything but the club Ten. 
A Grand with three Matadores is worth 4 times 20 or 80 points, 

which is what B loses, although 
A GRAND. he may have bid only 10 or 12 

to get the play. 

Text Books, Foster's 
Skat Manual, 1906. Eich- 
horn's American Skat, 1898. 
Lehrbuch des Skatspiels, by 
K. Buhle. 1 89 1. Deutsche 
Skatordnung, by K. Buhle. 
1888. Scatspiel. (Anon.) Von 
Posert, Quedlinburg. 1879. 
Encyclopaedia der Spiele, by 
Fr. Anton. 1889. Skat, by 
F. Tschientschy. 1888. Skat, 
byL.V. Diehl. 1891. Skat, 
by E. E. Lemcke. 1887. 

All but the first two on the 
list treat of the old game, bid- 
ding by suits, and making no 
mention of Guekis ; but some 
of them, especially Buhle's, contain some very fine examples of 
good play. The first two on the list and the last two are in 
English. All the others are in German. 





A 


B 


c 


B 
wins. 


I 


*io 


* A 


l± 


2 


8 * 


AO 


7 


II 


3 


<? A 


9 * 


IP » 


- 


4 


* 7 


1O0 


9 


IO 


5 


*8 


V J 


QO 


5 


6 


* 9 


J * 


V 9 


2 


J 


<? 7 


KO 


VQ 


7 










8 


*Q 


» J 


<? K 


9 


9 


* K 


A * 


7 * 


15 










10 


sno 


Q* 


K* 


— 


8 and ^ 


8 in th 


e Scat. 


— 


B wins 59 



AMERICAN SKAT. 

In this variation, now so largely played, the highest bidder 
always sees the skat before announcing his game. Although 
a gucki, it need not be a grand, but may be solo or nullo if he 
likes. If he wins the game he announces the scores as usual; 
but if he loses he always loses double. He may announce 
Schneider or schwarz after discarding for the skat. If he makes 
an announced Schneider, it doubles the value of his game, in- 
stead of simply adding a multiplier. An announced schwarz 
trebles it. 

For example: Spade solo with 1, Schneider announced. His 
game is 1 for game, 1 for Schneider, without 1, 3x11 = 33, 
doubled for announcing Schneider, 66. If lost, it costs 232. If 
he makes schwarz after announcing Schneider, it adds one mul- 
tiplier, yj. The smallest possible game is a diamond with or 
without 1, worth 18; 36 if lost. The largest game possible to 
lose is a grand with four, schwarz announced, costing 1,008. 



(Skat.) 317 

THE LAWS OF SKAT. 

THE GAMES. 

1. The following are the unit values of the various games : — 
Frage shall not be allowed. Tournee in diamonds 5, in hearts 

6, in spades 7 and in clubs 8. Solo in diamonds 9, in hearts 10, 
in spades 11 and in clubs 12. Turned grand 12, gucki grand 16, 
solo grand 20 and open grand 24. Gucki nullo 15, open gucki 
nullo 30, solo nullo 20, open solo nullo 40, and revolution, if played, 
60. U no and duo, if played, shall be worth 20, or if played 
open 40. 

2. When there are trumps, the unit value of the game shall be 
multiplied as follows: 1 for game; 2 for Schneider ; 3 for announc- 
ing Schneider, or for making schwarz without having made any 
announcement; 4 for schwarz after having announced Schneider; 
and 5 for announcing schwarz. To each of these multipliers shall 
be added one for each matadore, " with " or " without." 

3. In tournees, if the player says " passt-mir-nicht " to the first 
card and takes the second, he loses double if he loses his game. 
In guckis, whether grand or nullo, the player loses double if he 
loses his game. 

4. The value of Ramsch shall be 20 points, to be charged to the 
player losing the game. If one player takes no trick, the loser shall 
be charged 30 points. If two players take no trick, 1 the loser shall 
be charged 50 points. The winner of the last trick takes the skat 
cards. If there is a tie between two for high score, the winner of 
the last trick shall be the loser. If the last trick is taken by the 
low score, and the others are tied, the two high scores lose 20 points 
each. If all three are tied at 40 points each, there is no score. 

5. In all games which are played " open," the hand of the single 
player must be laid face up on the table before either adversary 
plays a card ; but the adversaries shall not be allowed to consult, 
neither can they dictate to the player what cards he shall play. 



FORMATION OF TABLE. 

6. Any number from three to six may form a table, but there 
shall be only three active players in each deal, and they shall be 
known respectively as Vorhand, Mittelhand, and Hinterhand. 
Those who hold no cards shall share the fortunes of those opposed 
to the single player whose score is put down. 

7. There shall be as many deals in each round as there are 
players at the table, and no person shall be allowed to withdraw 
from the game during a round unless the others consent to a sub- 
stitute and such substitute be found. 



318 (Skat) SKAT LAWS. 

8. Newcomers can enter the table only after the conclusion of a 
round and with the consent of the other players. The new candi- 
date for play must take his seat so that he shall have the deal. 

9. If seats are drawn for, the lowest skat card shall have the 
first choice. The next lowest shall sit on his left, and so on. In 
cutting, the cards and suits rank as in play. The one drawing the 
lowest card shall deal the first hand, and the score shall be kept by 
the player on his right. 

10. The game shall come to an end only at the conclusion of a 
round, and any player wishing to stop must give notice before the 
beginning of a round. 

CARDS. 

11. There are thirty-two cards in the pack, the rank and value 
of which are as follows: Jack 2; ace n.; ten 10; king 4; queen 
3 ; the nine, eight and seven having no counting value. 

12. The suits shall always outrank one another in the same 
order; clubs, spades, hearts and diamonds. The four jacks, or 
Wenzels, which are always the four best trumps, shall outrank one 
another in the same order. 

13. In Nullo, the cards rank: A K Q J 10 9 8 7, and the suits 
and jacks are all of equal rank. 



14. When four or more play at the same table, the dealer takes 
no cards, but gives cards to the two sitting immediately on his left 
and to the one next him on his right. 

15. When only three piay, Hinterhand shall deal the cards. 

16. The deal passes in regular order to the left. 

17. After being thoroughly shuffled, the pack must be presented 
to the pone (the player sitting on the dealer's right) to be cut, and 
at least three cards must be left in each packet. Any player may 
demand a right to shuffle the cards before they are dealt, but the 
dealer shall have the last shuffle before presenting the cards to be 
cut. If any card is exposed in cutting, there must be a new cut. 

18. The dealer shall give each active player cards, three at a 
time for the first round, face down, beginning on his left. He shall 
then lay aside, face clown, two cards for the skat. Each player 
shall then receive four cards at a time for the second round, and 
finally three cards at a time for the last round. 

19. If any card is found faced in the pack, or if the pack be 
proved incorrect or imperfect, there must be a new deal. An im- 
perfect pack is one in which there are duplicate or missing cards, 
or cards so torn or marked that they can be identified by the 
backs. 



SKAT LA WS. (Skat) 319 

20. Should a player deal out of his turn, the deal must stand 
if it is complete ; otherwise there must be a new deal by the right 
dealer. When the deal stands, the next deal must be by the player 
who should have dealt, and subsequent deals must be so arranged 
that there shall be the right number to each round. A player 
dealing out of turn may be penalized 10 points, 

ERRORS IN DEALING. 

21. There are no misdeals. No matter what happens, the same 
dealer must deal again if it was his proper turn to deal. 

22. If a card is exposed by the dealer during the deal, there 
must be a new deal ; or if the cards of the players become confused, 
so that the dealer cannot separate them. 

23. If the dealer gives too many or too few cards to any player, 
or neglects to lay out the skat cards in their proper turn, or does 
not give the right number of cards in each round, or gives three to 
one player and four to another, or fails to present the pack to be 
cut, there must be a new deal, and the dealer is charged 10 points 
for the error. 

THE SKAT CARDS. 

24. Any active player taking up or seeing either or both the skat 
cards when he is not entitled to do so shall be debarred from 
bidding that deal. If any but an active player look at either of the 
skat cards, 10 points shall be deducted from his score. 

25. If any Kiebitz (an onlooker not belonging to the table) looks 
at either of the skat cards, he may be called upon to pay the value 
of the game. 

26. If an active player look at the skat cards during the play, 
he not having laid out those cards from his own hand, his game is 
lost if he is the single player. If he is opposed to the player, the 
player's game is won, but it may be played out to see if he can 
make Schneider or schwarz. 

27. Should an active player take one or both the skat cards into 
his hand by mistake, before the bidding begins, the dealer shall 
draw from his hand, face down, enough cards to reduce his hand 
to ten, and the player in fault shall be charged 25 points penalty, 
and be debarred from bidding for that deal. If, in three-hand, the 
player in fault is the dealer, Vorhand shall draw. 

28. Should the successful bidder take both the skat cards into 
his hand together, or pick them up together, he shall be obliged 
to play a Gucki Grand, unless he has announced to play Nullo. 
Should he put the first card into his hand without showing it, he 
shall be obliged to turn up the second card and play Passt-mir-nicht. 

29. The player may turn up either of the skat cards ; but should 
he expose both he must play the suit of higher value. 



320 (Skat) SKAT LAWS. 

30. Should he turn a jack, he may either play in suit or announce 
a turned Grand. 

31. A player turning up a seven cannot announce a Nullo unless 
it has been previously agreed to play turned Nullos, which are 
worth 10 points. 

32. The player who takes the skat cards must lay out two cards 
in their place before a card is led. Should he neglect to lay out 
for the skat before he plays to the first trick; or should he lay out 
more or less than two cards, and not discover the error until the 
first trick has been turned and quitted, he shall lose his game. 



33. All bidding shall be by numbers representing the value of 
some possible game, and the lowest bid allowed shall be 10. 

34. Mittelhand must bid to Vorhand, and Vorhand must either 
undertake as good a game as that offered him, or pass. If Vorhand 
passes, Hinterhand bids to Mittelhand, and Mittelhand must either 
undertake as good a game as that offered, or pass. If Mittelhand 
passes, when bidding to Vorhand, Hinterhand must bid to Vorhand : 
but Hinterhand is not allowed to say anything until either Mittel- 
hand or Vorhand has passed. 

35. Any figure once named cannot be recalled. A player having 
once passed, cannot come into the bidding again. 

36. The survivor of the bidding shall be known as the Player, 
and shall have the privilege of naming the game to be played ; the 
two other active players being his adversaries. 

37. If no bid is made, and Vorhand will not undertake to play 
any game against the two others, they must play Ramsch. 

ANNOUNCEMENTS. 

38. The player, if he does not use the skat cards, may announce 
any suit for the trump, or he may play a Grand or Nullo. 

39. If he wishes to announce Schneider or schwarz, he must do 
so when he names the game to be played, and before a card is led. 
All Open Grands are compulsory " schwarz announced." 

40. The manner of taking up the skat cards, when the player 
uses them, is sufficient announcement for a Tournee, Passt-mir-nicht, 
or Guckser ; but a Gucki Nullo must be announced before the skat 
cards are touched, and open Gucki Nullo must be announced before 
the skat cards are seen. 

41. The player is not allowed to announce either Schneider or 
schwarz in any game in which he uses the skat cards. 

42. The adversaries cannot announce Schneider or schwarz 
under any circumstances. 



SKAT LAWS. (Skat.) 321 

43. No player but Vorhand can announce Ramsch, and then only 
when no bid has been made. 



44. In Tournee, but not in Solo, Grand, or Nullo, the player may, 
in order to avoid the possibility of being made Schneider, abandon 
his game as lost before playing to the second trick. The adversa- 
ries are then bound to score it as a " game " lost, even if they could 
have made the player Schneider. 

45. No matter who is the single player, Vorhand shall always 
lead for the first trick. The winner of one trick leads for the next, 
and so on, and each player in turn must follow suit if he can. 

46. If, during the play of the hand, any player is found to have 
a wrong number of cards, the others having their right number, 
only those who have their right number can win the game. If it 
is the player who has a wrong number, his game is lost. If it is 
one of his adversaries, the player's game is won. 

47. If the single player leads out of turn, the cards must be 
taken back if the trick is not complete and the adversary who has 
not played demands it. If both adversaries have played to the 
false lead, the trick stands. If an adversary has played to his false 
lead, the player cannot take it back unless the other adversary 
permit it. 

48. If an adversary of the player leads out of turn, and the 
player calls attention to it, the player may immediately claim his 
game as won and abandon the hand ; or he may insist that the play 
proceed with a view to making the adversaries Schneider or 
schwarz. Whether he proceeds or not his game is won, and he 
may either let the false lead stand, or insist on a lead from the 
proper hand. 

49. If, during the progress of the hand, the player lays his cards 
on the table, face up, and announces that he has won his game by 
reaching 61 or 91, whichever may be necessary to make good his 
bid, and it is proved that he is mistaken, he loses his game, even if 
he could have taken up his cards again and won it. 

50. If an adversary lays his cards on the table, face up, and 
claims to have already defeated the player's game, all that adver- 
sary's cards shall be taken by the player and counted with the tricks 
already taken in by the player. If the adversary be found to be in 
error, the player shall score his game as won, even if he would have 
lost it had it been continued. 

51. If the single player gives up his game as lost, and lays his 
cards on the table, the adversaries shall take all such cards and 
add them to their own, and count their cards to see if they have 
also made the player Schneider. 



322 (Skat) SKAT LAWS. 

THE REVOKE. 

52. Should the single player revoke, and not discover the error 
before the trick is turned and quitted, he loses his game. If he 
discovers the error and corrects it in time, there is no penalty ; but 
any adversary who plays after him may amend his play. 

53. If either adversary of the player revokes, the player may 
claim his game as won ; but he may insist on playing ttte hand out 
to see if he can make Schneider or schwarz. Even if the single 
player has overbid his hand, he wins his game if either adversary 
revokes. 

LOOKING BACK. 

54. Any active player may see the last trick turned and quitted, 
provided no card has been led for the next trick. Should a player 
look back at any other trick, or count his cards, he loses the game ; 
but either of the others may insist on playing on to see if they can 
make Schneider. 

55. If an adversary of the player tell his partner how many points 
they have taken in, or ask him to fatten a trick which is his, or call 
attention in any way to the fact that the partner's play should be 
thus or so, the single player may at once claim his game as won, 
and abandon his hand. 



$6. The single player wins his game if he reaches 61 points. 
He wins Schneider if he makes 91. He wins schwarz if he gets 
every trick. 

57. If the adversaries reach 30, they are out of Schneider. If 
they reach 60, they defeat the player. If they get to 90, they 
make him Schneider ; and if they win every trick they make him 
schwarz. 

58. The value of the game having been calculated according to 
Law No- 2, the amount won or lost shall be entered on the score 
pad under the name of the individual player, and each following 
item shall be added to or deducted from the previous total, so that 
the last entry shall at all times show the exact state of the player's 
score. 

59. At the end of the sitting each player wins from or loses to 
each of the others at the table the full amount of his score. 

60. In every case in which a player loses his game, he loses what 
he would have won if he had been successful, regardless of the 
amount he may have bid; but, 

61. If the player fails to win a game equal to the amount he has 
bid, he loses the value of the next higher game which would have 
made his bid good; because in no case can a player lose less than 
he bid, and in every case must he lose some multiple of the game 
which he declared to play. 



(Frog.) 323 

FROG. 

This is a very popuiar game in Mexico, and seems to be an ele- 
mentary form of Skat, which it resembles in many ways. Even the 
name may be a corruption of the simple game in Skat, which is 
called " frage." The chief differences are that there are four cards 
added to the pack for frog, and that the players win or lose accord- 
ing to the number of points they get above or below 61, instead of 
computing the value of the game by matadores. 

Players. Three, four, or five can play ; but only three are ac- 
tive in' each deal. If four play, the dealer takes no cards. If five 
play, he gives cards to the two on his left and one on his right. 

Cards. There are thirty-six cards in the pack, which rank : 
A10KQJ9876. Each Ace is worth 11, Tens are worth 10, 
Kings 4, Queens 3, and Jacks 2. This gives us 120 points in the 
pack, and the object is to get 61 or more. 

Dealing. Any one can deal the first hand, after which the deal 
passes to the left. Three cards are given to each player the first 
round, then three for the widow, and then two rounds of four cards 
each to the players, so that there are three hands of eleven cards 
each, and three in the widow. 

THE GAMES. Each player in turn, beginning on the dealer's 
left, can offer to play one of three games, and the highest offer must 
be accepted. A player cannot increase his own bid unless he is 
overbid. The highest bidder becomes the single player, opposed 
to the two others. 

Frog. In this, hearts must be trumps. The single player turns 
the widow face up to show what it contained, and then takes the 
three cards into his hand. He must then discard to reduce his 
playing hand to eleven cards again. Any points in the cards he 
lays away will count for him at the end of the play. 

The player on the dealer's left always leads for the first trick, any 
card he pleases. The others must follow suit if they can, but they 
are not obliged to head the trick. If a player cannot follow suit, 
he must trump, and if the third player cannot follow suit either, he 
must play a trump, but he is not obliged to over-trump unless he 
likes. 

The eleven tricks played, each side turns over the cards taken in 
and counts the points. For every point the single player gets over 
60 he must be paid a counter by each of the others who held cards. 
But if he does not get 60, he must pay each of the others at the 
table, including those who held no cards, if any, a counter for every 
point his adversaries get over 60. 

Chico outbids Frog. The player offering this game can name 
any suit for the trump except hearts, but he must not touch the 
widow, although the points in it will count for him at the end. 
Each point under or over 60 is worth two counters in Chico. 



324 (Cribbage.) CRIB B AGE. 

Grand outbids Chico, and is the highest bid possible. Hearts 
must be trumps, and the player offering this game must not touch 
the widow until the play is finished. Every point under or over 60 
in a Grand is worth four counters. 

The bidder must play the game he names. He cannot bid Frog 
and play Chico, or bid Chico and play Grand. The settling up of 
the scores at the end, if the payments are not made at once in 
counters, is the same as in Skat. 



CRIBBAGE. 

Cribbage is not only one of the oldest of the games upon the 
cards, but enjoys' the distinction of being quite unlike any other 
game, both in the manner of playing it, and in the system of reck- 
oning the points. It is also peculiar from the fact that it is one of 
the very few really good games which require no effort of the 
memory ; judgment and finesse being the qualities chiefly requisite 
for success. 

There are two principal varieties of the game ; Five and Sim- 
card Cribbage ; and these again are divided according to the num- 
ber of players. The old writers agree in speaking of the five-card 
game as the more scientific ; but the modern verdict is in favour 
of the six-card game, which is certainly the more common and 
popular. The skill in Five-card Cribbage is limited to laying out 
for the crib and securing the " go " ; but in Six-card Cribbage, 
while the scientific principles applicable to the crib remain the 
same as in the five-card game, there is abundant room for the dis- 
play of skill all through, the hand being as important as the crib, 
and the play sometimes more important than either. The -six- 
card game will be first described. 

CARDS. Cribbage is played with a full pack of fifty-two 
cards, which have no rank except the order of their sequence ; 
KQJ1098765432A, the Ace being always the lowest, either in 
cutting or in play. The cards have also a counting or pip value, 
the three court cards, K O J, and the 10 being worth ten points 
each. All other cards, including the Ace, retain their face value. 
There are no trumps, and the four suits are therefore equal in 
value at all times. 

MARKERS. The game is 61 points, and is scored or 
" pegged " on a cribbage board, which has a double row of 30 
holes on each side, and a game-hole at each end. The players 
are each provided with two pegs, and they score the points as they 
accrue by advancing their pegs from left to right according to the 
number of points they make. For instance : One player makes 6 



MARKERS. (Cribbage.) 325 

for his first count. He places one of his pegs in the sixth hole 
from the left-hand end of the board. Then he makes 4, and 
places the second peg four holes in advance of the first, which 
will show that his total score is ten points. The third time he 
makes 2, which he scores by lifting out the back peg and putting 
it two holes in advance of the first one. This system of pegging 
not only shows the total number of points made by either player, 
but enables the adversary to check the count, as a glance at the 
distance between the two pegs will show the number of points 
pegged last time. 

When "a player reaches the extreme right of the board, 30 
points, he crosses over to the inner row of holes, and goes down 
from right to left. On reaching the end of the second row he has 
still one more to go to get into the game-hole, which is in the 
middle of the board. 

When one player reaches his game-hole before the other turns 
the corner, it is called a lurch, and counts two games. 

The pegs are so often lost or mislaid that it is much more con- 
venient to use a pull-up cribbage board, in which every hole is 
provided with its own peg, which may be raised to indicate the 
count. The back pegs can be either left standing or pushed 
down again. 




The board is always placed midway between the players. 

If three persons play, a triangular board is necessary. This 
is provided with three sets of holes and three game holes. 

When a cribbage board is not at hand, the game may be kept 
by ruling a sheet of paper into ten divisions, and marking them 
with the figures 1 to o on each side : 



1 6 | 


8UI9IS |*|£ 


* 


1 


I |2| 


3U|5|6|7|8 


9 






Each player being provided with two coins, one silver and one 
copper, (or different sizes,) the copper coin can be advanced from 
point to point to count units, and the silver coin will mark the tens. 

PLAYERS. Cribbage is distinctly a game for two players, 
although three may play, each for himself, or four, two being part- 
ners against the other two. When two play, one is known as the 
dealer, and the other as the non-dealer, or the pone. 



326 (Cribbage.) DEALING. 

CUTTING. The players cut for the choice of seats, and 
for the first deal. The lowest cut has the choice, and deals the 
first hand. The Ace is low. If a player exposes more than 
one card he must cut again. Ties are also decided by cutting 
again. 

STAKES. Cribbage is played for so much a game, lurches 
counting double. Players may either settle at the end of each 
game, or score on a sheet of paper. In the pull-up cribbage 
boards there are nine extra pegs for counting games won. These 
are placed in a line with the player's game hole at each end. 

DEALING. The cards are shuffled and presented to the 
pone to be cut, and he must leave at least six cards in each packet. 
Six cards are dealt to each player, one at a time in rotation, be- 
ginning with the player on the dealer's left if there are more than 
two. No trump is turned, and the remainder of the pack is placed 
face downward at the end of the cribbage board on the dealer's 
left. 

Irregularities. It is a misdeal if any card is found faced 
in the pack, or if the pack is found to be imperfect, and there must 
be a fresh deal by the same dealer. Any previous cuts or scores 
made with the imperfect pack stand good. A player dealing out 
of turn may be stopped before the non-dealer lifts his cards from 
the table. The penalty for dealing out of turn is two points, if 
the error is detected in time ; otherwise the deal stands good. 

If the dealer neglects to have the pack cut, exposes a card in 
dealing, gives too many or too few cards to any player, deals a 
card incorrectly, and fails to remedy the error before dealing 
another, or exposes one of his adversary's cards, the non-dealer 
scores two points by way of penalty. He also has the option of 
demanding a fresh deal by the same dealer, or of letting the 
deal stand. If the error is simply an irregularity in the manner of 
dealing, or an exposed card, the pone must decide without looking 
at his cards. If either player has too many or too few cards, the 
pone may look at the hand dealt him before deciding whether or 
not to have a fresh deal ; but if it is the pone himself that has too 
many or too few cards, he must discover and announce the error 
before lifting his cards from the table, or he will not be entitled to 
the option of letting the deal stand. If the pone has too many 
cards he may return the surplus to the top of the pack, without 
showing or naming them. If the dealer has too many, the pone 
may draw from his hand face downward, returning the surplus to 
the top of. the pack ; but the pone may not look at the cards so 
drawn unless the dealer has seen them. If there are too few cards, 
and the pone elects to have the deal stand, the deficiency must be 
supplied from the top of the pack. 



CRIB AND STARTER, (Cribbage.) 327 

THE CRIB, The cards dealt, each player takes up his 
six cards and examines them with a view to laying out two cards, 
face downward, for the crib ; leaving himself four cards with which 
to play. The four cards which form the crib, two from each hand, 
always belong to the dealer, and it is usual for each player, in dis- 
carding for the crib, to slip his two cards under the end of the 
cribbage board opposite to that occupied by the remainder of the 
pack. 

Cards once laid out for the crib, and the hand removed from 
them, cannot be taken up again. A penalty of two points may be 
scored by the adversary for each card so taken up again, whether 
it is returned to the player's hand or not. If either player confuses 
his cards in any manner with those of the crib, his adversary 
scores two points, and may also claim a fresh deal. 

If it is not discovered until he comes to lay out for the crib, that 
a player has too many cards, the same rules apply that are given 
for misdealing ; but if he has too few cards there is no remedy, as 
he has lifted his hand. He must lay out two cards for the crib 
and play with what remain, his adversary scoring two points 
penalty at the same time. 

THE STARTER. Both players having discarded for the 
crib, the non-dealer cuts the remainder of the pack, and the dealer 
lifts the top card from the portion left on the table, turning it face 
up. The two portions being again united, the turned card is 
placed face up on the pack, and is known as the starter, because 
it forms the starting-point in the count for every hand and crib. 
At least four cards must be left in each packet in cutting for the 
starter. If the starter is found face up, there must be a new deal. 

If the starter is a Jack, the dealer immediately pegs two points 
for his heels. If he does not peg these two holes before he plays 
a card the score is lost. If the Jack of the same suit as the starter 
is found in the hand or crib of any player, it is called his nobs, and 
when the hand is reckoned up after the play is over, one point may 
be scored for it. 

If the dealer exposes more than one card after the pack has 
been properly cut, his adversary may choose which of the exposed 
cards shall be the starter. 

In order to understand the motives which govern the players in 
discarding, and the influences which the starter has upon the value 
of the hands and crib, it will be necessary to describe the objects of 
the game, before giving the method of play. 

OBJECTS OF THE GAME, The chief object in Crib- 
bage is to form and to preserve various counting combinations. 
As these combinations occur in the course of play, or are shown 
in the hand or crib after the play is over, their value in points is 
pegged on the cribbage board, and the player who first pegs a 



328 (Cribbage.) OBJECTS OF THE GAME. 



sufficient number of these combinations to reach a total of 61 
points, wins the game. 

There are five principal varieties of these counting combinations : 
Pairs, Triplets, Fours, Sequences, and Fifteens ; ' besides some 
minor counts which will be spoken of in their proper place. 

The various counting combinations in Cribbage may arise in 
two ways. They may be formed by combining the cards played 
by one person with those played by his adversary ; or they may be 
found in the individual hand or crib after the play is over. In the 
latter case the starter is considered as part of each hand and crib, 
increasing each of them to five available counting cards. 

Pairs. A pair is any two cards of the same denomination, 
such as two Fives or two Queens, and its counting value is always 
the same, 2 points. Triplets, usually called Pairs Royal, Proils, 
or Prials, are any three cards of the same denomination, such as 
three Nines. Their value is the number of separate pairs that 
can be formed with the three cards, which is three, and the com- 
bination is therefore always worth 6 points. The different pairs 
that can be formed with three Nines, for instance, would be as 
follows : — ■ 



9? 9 

<? s? 
9? 9? 


* * 

*** 

* * 




9? 9? 

9? v 9? 
9? 9? 


* * 




* * 

*** 

* * 


4 4 



Fours, sometimes called Double Pairs Royal, or Deproils, are 
any four cards of the same denomination, such as four Fours, and 
their counting value is the number of separate pairs that can be 
formed with the four cards, which is six. The combination is 
therefore always worth 12 points. The different combinations of 
four cards, arranged in pairs, is as follows : — 



V 9? 


4. * 

* * 




* * 

* * 





\V 9? 






4. ^. 

4. 4. 







9? 9? 
9? 9? 








* ♦ 







Whether the foregoing combinations are formed during the play 
of the hand, or found in the hand or crib after the play is over, 
their counting value is exactly the same. 

Sequences. Any three or more cards, following one another 
in numerical order, will form a sequence. A sequence may also 
run into the court cards, such as 9 10 J, 10 J Q, or J Q K ; but 
Q K A is not a sequence in Cribbage. The counting value of a 



SEQUENCES. 



(Cribbage.) .329 





* 
* 

4" 









sequence is one point for each card in it. Sequences formed in 
the course of play must always be single, although the cards form- 
ing them need not fall in regular order. Those found in the hand 
or crib may be double, and those formed with the aid of the starter 
may be treble or quadruple. 

The method of computing the value of double and treble 
sequences should be thoroughly understood, in order that such 
combinations may be counted at sight. A few examples will show 
that each combination belongs to a certain class, to which the 
same counting value is always attached. These classes are dis- 
tinguished by the number of duplicates of the sequence cards. 

If you hold three cards which form 
a sequence, and have also a dupli- 
cate of any one of them, no matter 
which, it is evident that by substitu- 
ting the card of equal value you can 
form another sequence. Such combinations are therefore always 
worth 8 points, 6 for the double run, as it is called, and 2 for 
the pair, no matter what the cards are that form the combination. 

If the five cards in the hand 
and starter together contain a 
run of three with two dupli- 
cates, it is evident that three 
separate sequences can be 
formed by using each of the duplicates alternately. Such combi- 
nations are always worth 15 points ; 9 for the triple run of three, 
and 6 for the pair royal. 

If the duplicates are of two 
different cards, no matter 
which, it will be found that 
four different sequences of 
three cards each can be formed 
by changing the Aces and Threes alternately. Such combinations 
are therefore always worth 16 points : four runs of three, worth 12, 
and 4 points for the two separate pairs. 

If the five cards contain 
one sequence of four, and one 
duplicate, the combination 
will always be worth 10 
points ; 8 for the double run 
of four, and 2 for the pair. 

The foregoing should be thoroughly familiar to every player, so 
that he may know the exact value of the combination the moment 
he sees the length of the sequence and the number of duplicates. 

Two-card Fifteens, Any combination of two or more 
cards, the total face value of which is exactly 15, is called fifteen- 



* 

* 


0? 

<5> 


* 









* * 
4. 4. 



* 





* 
* 




* 
* 

* 




330 (Cribbage.) 



FIFTEENS. 



* 4> 






°0 <> 

o o 


* * 

*** 
4. 4. 




* * 



£i#o, because each fifteen so formed is worth two points in the 
pegging. There are only three combinations of two cards which 
will form fifteen ; a Five with any court card or Ten ; a Nine and 
a Six ; an Eight and a Seven. The manner of counting duplicates 
is the same as that employed for the pairs and sequences, and the 
player should be equally familiar with each variety of combination. 
The fifteens formed by two cards only are the simplest, and 
should be studied first. 

It is obvious that if there is in the hand 
or the starter a duplicate of either of the 
cards forming the fifteen, no matter which, 
another fifteen can be formed, and the com- 
bination will therefore always be worth 6 
points ; 4 for the two fifteens, and 2 for the pair. It must not be 
forgotten that in the case of tenth cards, as they are called, the 
duplicates may not form pairs, as for instance with K J 5. The 
fifteen is duplicated, but there is no pair. 

If there are two duplicates of either 
card, the combination will always be 
worth 12 points ; 6 for the three fif- 
teens, and 6 more for the pair royal. 
If the duplicates are of two dif- 
ferent cards, the combination is still 
worth 12, because four different fif- 
teens can be formed by combining 
eafch Nine with each Six separately, 
and there are two single pairs. 

The same is true of any 
combinations of two-card fif- 
teens in which all five cards 
are of value ; they are both of 
the same pegging value, 20 
points. If there are three 
duplicates of one card in the 
original fifteen, the four sep- 
arate fifteens will be worth 8, 
and the double pair royal 12. 
If there are two duplicates of one card, and one of the other, six 
separate fifteens can be formed by combining each Nine with each 
Six, pegging 12; and the pair royal of one card with the single 
pair of the other will add 8 more. 

Three-card Fifteens may be formed in fifteen different 
ways, ranging from 10 4 A, to 5 5 5. If you hold any of these 
combinations, and have a fourth card which is a duplicate of any 
of the three forming the fifteen, the value of the combination will 



9? 9? 

9? 9? 
9? 9? 


* * 

*** 

* * 







9? 9? 
9? 9? 
9? 9? 



+ * 

*** 
* * 








9? 9? 
9? 9? 
9? 9? 


* * 
4. 4. 


* * 

4 * 

* * 



9? 9? 

9? V 9? 
9? 9? 


4 * 

*** 

♦ 4 






4. 4. 

4. 4. 

4. 4» 


* * 



FIFTEENS. 



(Cribbage.) 331 




depend on how many cards you can replace with the duplicate 
card. 

If you have an extra tenth card, 
you can replace the other tenth card 
once only, and the total value of the 
combination is therefore 6 points, 
which is expressed by the formula ; 
" Fifteen-two, fifteen-four, and a pair." 

If your combination was 933, and 
you had another 9, the same thing 
would be true ; but if your duplicate 
is a Three, there are two cards which 
can be replaced, and the combination 
6 for the three fifteens, and 6 more for the 



*** 
* * 




* 
* 





is therefore worth 12 ; 
pair royal. 





* * 
* 

* * 








* * 

* 

* * 



for the double pair royal. 



If your combination is one in which 
all three cards can be replaced with 
the duplicate, making three extra 
fifteens, it must be worth 20 alto- 
gether ; 8 for the four fifteens, and 12 



* 
* 


4. 4. 

* * 
4. * 




v 

* * 








* 




* * 

* * 




* * 
4. 4. 



If you have two duplicates 
of any one card in the original 
combination, there are only 
two extra fifteens, and the 
combination will be worth 12 ; 
6 for the three fifteens, and 6 more for the pair royal. 

If you have duplicates of 
two different cards you can 
form four fifteens; because 
you can replace the Seven 
first, and then the Six, and then 
put the first Seven back again with the new Six. This will make 
the combination of the same value as if you had three duplicates 
of one card, 12 points ; 8 for the four fifteens, and 4 for the two 
single pairs. 

Combinations. The beginner's greatest difficulty is in count- 
ing hands which contain all three varieties of counts ; pairs, 
sequences, and fifteens. But if he is familiar with the values of 
the various combinations taken separately, he will have no difficulty 
in computing them when they are found together. Some regular 
order should be observed in going over the hands, so that nothing 
shall be forgotten. The majority of players begin with the fifteens, 
as they are more liable to be overlooked, and then reckon the 
value of the runs and pairs together. 



332 (Cribbage.) 



COMBINATIONS. 



Take the following examples :■ 
No. i. 



No. 2. 



* * 

* 4» 






4» 4» 

* * 






* * 

4 4 

* * 






V 


°0° 



0% 


4-. ♦ 
♦ 4» 
4» 4» 









* * 




*** 

A A 


9 9? 



* * 
+ 4* 
4- 4» 




*** 
4, 4. 


V 


0% 


*4.* 

4» 4» 

4» 



No. 3. 



No. 4. 



No, 1 contains a fifteen in addition to the three runs of three 
and the pair royal, and is therefore worth 17 altogether. Nos. 2 
and 3 each contain three fifteens ; but No. 2 is worth 21 points on 
account of the three runs of three and the pair royal, while No. 3 
is worth only 16 ; a double run of four and a single pair. No. 4 
contains four fifteens in addition to the four runs of three and two 
single pairs, and is therefore worth 24 points. 

The best combination that can be held in hand or crib is three 
Fives and a Jack, with the Five of the same suit as the Jack for a 
a starter. We have already seen that the four Fives by them- 
selves are w T orth 20, to which we must add the four extra fifteens 
made by combining the Jack with each Five separately, and one 
more point for his nobs, 29 altogether. If the Jack was the 
starter, the combination would be worth 30 to the dealer, but his 
heels would have to be counted before a card was played. 

Flushes. In addition to the foregoing combinations, if all 
four cards in the hand are of the same suit the player can peg 
four points for the flush ; if the starter is also the same suit, five 
points. A flush does not count in the crib unless the starter is 
the same suit, and then it counts five points. Flushes are never 
made in play. 

Laying Out for the Crib. With this knowledge of the 
objects of game, and the various counting combinations, it will be 
seen that each player should keep the cards which count the most 
for him, or which are most likely to form good combinations with 
different starters. 



LAYING OUT CRIB. (Cribbage.) 333 



Suppose the non-dealer holds these cards : — 



* * 

* * 
4. 4. 


V 

4 4 

4 4 




9? 9 


4 4 

*** 
4*4 

4 4 


*j.4 

*** 

*** 



If he puts the two Eights in his adversary's crib, he not only 
gives him two very good cards, which go to form a great many 
valuable combinations, but he leaves himself absolutely nothing 
but 2 points for a single fifteen, formed by the 9 and 6. It would 
be a little better, but still very bad play, for him to discard the 8 
and 6, leaving himself a sequence of four cards and a fifteen, 6 
points altogether. He might do a little better by discarding the 10 
and 8, leaving himself a run of four, and two fifteens, 8 points 
altogether. If he discards either the 10 and 9, or the 10 and 6, he 
will leave himself a double run of three, a pair, and two fifteens, 
12 altogether. Of these two discards, that of the 10 and 6 is 
better than the 10 and 9, because the 10 and 9 might help to form 
a sequence in the adversary's crib, whereas the 10 and 6 are so 
far apart that they are very unlikely to be of any use. 

Cards which are likely to form parts of sequences are called 
close cards, and those which are too widely separated to do so 
are called wide cards. 

METHOD OF PLATING. The crib laid out, and the 
starter cut, the pone begins by playing any card he pleases. The 
card he selects he lays face upward on the table on his own side of 
the cribbage board, and at the same time announces its pip value ; 
two, five, or ten, whatever it may be. It is then the dealer's turn 
to play a card from his hand, which is also laid face upward on the 
table, but on the dealer's side of the cribbage board. Instead of 
announcing the pip value of this second card, the dealer calls out 
the total value of the two cards taken together. The pone then 
lays another card on the table face upward and on the top of the 
first, which is not turned face down, and at the same time an- 
nounces the total pip value of the three cards so far played ; the 
dealer plays again, and so on. 

If at any time the total pip value of the cards played is exactly 
15 or 31, the one who plays the card that brings it to that number 
pegs two points for it at once. If any counting combination, such 
as a pair, pair royal, or sequence, is formed by the cards played, 
its value is pegged by the person that plays the card which com- 
pletes the combination ; but neither player is allowed to play a 
card which will make the total pip value of the cards played pass 
31. The method of forming and pegging these various combina- 
tions in play will be better understood if they are described sepa- 
rately. A card once played cannot be taken up again, unless it 
passes 31. 



334 (Cribbage.) PEGGING POINTS. 



Pairs, If the first card played by the pone should be a 6, and 
the dealer had a 6 also, the latter would probably play it, announc- 
ing : " Twelve, with a pair," and pegging two holes. If the pone 
held a third six he would immediately play it, announcing: 
" Eighteen, with a pair royal," and would peg six holes for the 
three pairs which can be formed with the three Sixes, although 
he did not hold all of them. If the dealer was fortunate enough 
to hold the fourth Six he might rejoin with : " Twenty-four, with a 
double-pair-royal." This would entitle him to peg twelve more 
holes, although he had already pegged the single pair. 

Sequences, Suppose the first card played by the pone was a 
4. The dealer plays a 2, announcing : " Six." The pone plays a 
3, announcing : " Nine, with a run of three," and pegging three 
holes for the sequence formed in play. The dealer plays an Ace ; 
" Ten, with a run of four," and pegs 1 four holes for the sequence 
of four cards made in play, all of which are face upward on the 
table, although he held only two of them. 

Fifteens, The pone then plays a 5, which, added to the 10 
just announced by the dealer, makes 15, with a run of five cards ; 
seven holes to peg altogether. (This is quite independent of the 
sequence previously scored, just as the double pair royal was of the 
previous single pair. / The dealer now plays a deuce, and announces 
seventeen. This card does not form any sequence with those 
that have gone immediately before it, because if the order of play 
is retraced it will be found that another deuce is encountered before 
we reach the Four. This illustrates the rule already given, that 
sequences formed in play must always be single, and cannot be 
reckoned with substitute cards, like pairs royal. If they could, the 
last player in this case might claim a double run of five and a pair. 

The pone now plays another 4, which forms the sequence afresh 
if we go back to the third card played. He announces : " Twenty- 
one, with a run of five," and pegs five holes more. The dealer 
plays a 3, also claiming a run of five, which he pegs, and as that is 
the last card to be played in that hand he also pegs one hole for 
last card. 

The total score of the dealer is now 10 points, and that of the 
pone is 15. The cards they held, and the order in which they 
were played is as follows : — 



Pone : — 
Dealer : — 















V 


*-* 

* 
* * 




* * 

4» * 


* 


<3 


* 
* 
* 



SHOWING HANDS. (Cribbage.) 335 

SHOWING, In order to illustrate the manner of counting 
the hands, which is called showing, let us suppose the starter to be 
a Queen, and that the pone discarded an Ace and a Ten for the 
crib, the dealer laying out two Jacks. 

The non-dealer always has the first show, as an offset to the ad- 
vantage of the dealer's crib. The pone therefore shows his hand, 
which, combined with the starter, is as follows : — 










4» •!• 

* * 


* * 

* * 



This is worth io holes ; the run of three with one duplicate is 
always worth 8, and the fifteen formed by the starter and the Five 
counts 2 more. This puts the pone's total score to 25 points. 

The dealer then counts, showing his hand first. This, with the 
Btarter, is as follows : — 



<? 






O 


* 
4. 

* 



This is worth 14 holes. In addition to the run of three with 
one duplicate, three fifteens can be formed by combining the 
starter and a Three with each of the deuces, and then taking the 
starter and the Ace with both the deuces together. This puts the 
dealer's total score to 24, with the crib still to count. This is as 
follows, with the starter : — 




This is worth 9 holes ; 8 for the run of three with one duplicate, 
and 1 for his nobs. There are no fifteens, and the Ace is worth- 
less. This puts the dealer three holes round the corner, and on 
the homestretch for the game hole. 

The deal now passes to the player that was the pone, and the 
next crib will belong to him. 

Beginners often experience difficulty in deciding when a run has 
been made in play, and when it has not. If there is any dispute 
about it, the cards should be placed as shown in these diagrams, 
and if any duplicate is encountered before the run is complete, it 
cannot be pegged. 



336 (Cribbage.) 



COUNTING BUNS, 



Take the following examples : — 



® 






* 

* 




* * 

4. 4. 












4> 
4. 











There is no sequence, because we encounter a duplicate deuce 
before we reach the Five. If the last player had a Five to play 
now, it would make a run of five cards, stopping at the deuce of 
hearts. Take the following :— 



* * 




* 




<> 








* 


9 <? 







There is no sequence ; but if the pone had played his Five for 
his second card, the dealer would have pegged two runs ; one of 
four, and one of six, besides the last card ; the pone making one 
run of five and a pair, as follows : — 



* * 












4* 





* 




* 
* 
♦ 


* * 

* * 









It will be seen that if the dealer had not played his Ace and 
kept his Six at the last, the pone would have pegged eleven holes 
on him, instead of seven. 

Go, avid Thirtg-one. When a person has no card which he 
can play without making the total pip value of all the cards played 
more than 31, he must say to his adversary: "Go." That is, 
" Go on and play, for I cannot." If his adversary has no cards 
left, the player must say " go " to himself. When a person is told 
to go, he must play as many cards as he can without passing 31. 
If he reaches 31 exactly, he scores two points; if he cannot quite 
reach it, he scores one point for the go. The principle is that if 31 
cannot be made by either player, the one playing the card that 
brought the count nearest to it shall count one for it, even if he 
has told himself to go. There is no count for "last card" if it 
makes 31. But the "last card" counts if it makes 15. 



GO, AND THIRTY-ONE. (Crifebage.) 337 

If a. player tells another to go when he can still play himself, he 
forfeits two points, and his adversary may, if he chooses, take 
back the cards to the point where the error occurred and have 
them played over again. The same penalty can be enforced 
against a player who pegs for a go when he can still play. 

Suppose the first card played is a Jack. The dealer, holding 
two Nines, an Eight, and a Five, plays the Five, and pegs 2 for 
the fifteen. The pone plays a Nine, announcing the total as 
twenty-four. The dealer cannot pair this Nine, because it w T ould 
run the count past 31, neither can he play the Eight, so he says, 
" Go." The pone pegs the go without playing, which shows that 
he is also unable to play, having nothing so small as a Seven. 

Both then turn down the cards already played, and the one 
whose turn it is to play begins all over again with his remaining 
cards or card, announcing its face value, his adversary playing 
after him until their cards are exhausted or they reach another 31. 

To continue the foregoing example, let us suppose the dealer to 
play one of his Nines. The pone plays a Jack, and announces 
" Nineteen." The dealer plays his remaining Nine, and calls 
" Twenty-eight." The pone tells, him to go, and he pegs one. 
These three cards are turned down. The pone then plays a Ten, 
and the dealer marks one for the last card. The hands and crib 
are then shown. 

If either player can reach exactly 31, he scores two points for it, 
whether he has been told to go or not. Suppose the pone begins 
with a Nine. The dealer plays a Six and pegs 2 for the fifteen. 
The pone pairs the Six, calls " Twenty-one," and pegs 2 for the 
pair. The dealer with two Fives and a Four in his hand, plays 
the Four, and calls " Twenty-five,' hoping the pone has no small 
card, which will allow the dealer to make a run of three with one 
of his Fives if he is told to go. But the pone plays a Five, call- 
ing : " Thirty, with a run of three." The dealer tells him to eo, 
and he plays an Ace, pegging two holes for the 31. The cards 
are all turned down, and the pone having no cards, the dealer 
plays his two Fives, and pegs a pair and the last card. The pair 
counts in this case because the adversary has no cards to inter- 
fere with it. A run of three might be played and scored in the 
same way, because the score for combinations made in play are 
determined by the order in which the cards are played, irrespective 
of who plays them. 

Irregularities in Hands, If a player is found to have too 
many or too few cards, after' he has laid out for the crib, his ad- 
versary pegs two points, and may also claim a fresh deal. If the 
deal is allowed to stand, superfluous cards must be drawn at ran- 
dom by the adversary, who may look at the card or cards so 
drawn before placing them in the pack. If either player is found 
to have too few cards after having laid out for the crib, he has no 



338 (Cribbage.) IRREGULARITIES. 

remedy. His adversary pegs two points, and the short hand must 
be played and shown for what it is worth. 

Irregular Cribs, If the superfluous card is found in the 
crib, and the non-dealer had the short hand, the dealer may 
reckon all the combinations he can make in the six-card crib ; but 
if it was the dealer who had the short hand, the superfluous crib 
is void. If the crib contains a superfluous card, both the players 
having their right number, the non-dealer pegs two holes for the 
evident misdeal, and the crib is void. If both players have their 
right number, and the crib is short, it must be shown for what it 
is worth ; but the non-dealer pegs two holes for the evident mis- 
deal. 

Irregular Announcements. There is no penalty if a 
player announces a wrong number as the total of the cards played, 
provided he does not peg an erroneous fifteen or thirty-one. If 
the following player does not correct the announcement, but plays 
and adds to it, the error cannot be rectified. If any holes are 
pegged for an erroneous announcement, the adversary may de- 
mand that they be taken down again, and may add the number to 
his own score. 

Miscounting, If a player over-counts his hand, crib, or play, 
and pegs the points erroneously claimed, his adversary may call 
attention to the error, demand that the superfluous points be 
taken down again, and may add them to his own score as penalty. 
Should a player neglect to peg the full value of his hand, crib, or 
play, his adversary may add the neglected points to his own score, 
after pointing out the omission. Should a player be mistaken in 
exacting either of these penalties, he must not only take down 
what he pegged, but allow his adversary to peg the same number 
as penalty. 

None of these corrections can be claimed until the player in 
error has pegged and quitted the score ; that is, removed his fin- 
gers from the front peg. The claim should always be prefaced by 
the word Muggins, If the error is one of omission in play, the 
adversary must play his own card before claiming muggins. If it 
is in the hand or crib, the adversary must wait until the points 
claimed are pegged and quitted. If there are no points claimed, 
he must wait until the cards are turned face down, thus acknowl- 
edging that, there is apparently nothing to score. A player is not 
allowed to tell his adversary whether or not he has counted his 
hand or crib correctly, until it is pegged. 

Nineteen, As it is impossible to hold 19 in hand or crib, it is 
a common ; practice for a player, when he. has nothing at all to 
score, to announce, "Nineteen." The numbers twenty-seven, 
twenty-six and twenty-five are also impossible. 



PEGGING. (Cribbage.) 339 

Pegging, Neither player is allowed to touch the other's pegs. 
If the score is erroneous, the player in fault must be called upon 
to remedy it himself. A player whose pegs are touched by his ad- 
versary can score two holes for penalty. If a player removes his 
adversary's front peg, the latter may immediately claim the game. 
If a player displaces his own front peg, he must place it behind 
the other. If both players displace their front pegs, as by acci- 
dent, they may agree to replace them where they believe them to 
have stood ; but if they cannot agree they must call the game 
void. 

Pegging Out. In pegging during the play, the first man to 
reach his game hole wins, no matter what either may have in hand 
or crib. If neither can peg out in play, the non-dealer has the 
first show. If he cannot show out, the dealer proceeds to count 
his hand and then his crib. If he cannot show out there must be 
a new deal. 

CHEATING. The greatest advantage at Cribbage is to 
6ecure good starters, and for this purpose the greek adopts various 
methods of trimming and marking the cards so that he may se- 
cure a starter exactly suited to his hand. After trimming certain 
cards a trifle longer or shorter than others, the pack to be cut may 
be presented to the pone in such a manner that he will uncon- 
sciously lift them either by the ends or the sides, according to the 
wish of the dealer, and so uncover a starter exactly suited to the 
dealer's hand or crib. When the sharper has the cut, he can of 
course uncover any card he pleases. With marked edges, the 
pone can cut down to a card of any desired denomination. Some 
audacious gamblers make it a rule to get a starter by simply re- 
moving the top card and turning up the next one. It is needless 
to say that the second card has been carefully pre-arranged. Any 
person who fingers the pack longer than necessary in cutting start- 
ers, or who cuts sometimes by the edge and sometimes by the side, 
will bear watching. Marked cards and second dealing are great 
weapons in a game where so much depends on a knowledge of the 
adversary's hand, and on securing good counting cards for yourself. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD PLAY. In the six-card 
game the hand is more valuable than the crib, because you know 
what it contains, whereas the crib is largely speculative. In the 
five-card game, in which there are only three cards in the hand 
arid four in the crib, it is usual to sacrifice the hand very largely 
for the possibilities of the crib, because of the much larger scores 
that can be made with five cards, the starter and four' in the crib. 

Paulking. In both games it is the duty of the pone to baulk 
the dealer's crib as much as possible, by laying out cards which are 
very unlikely to be worth anything, either in making .fifteens or in 
filling up sequences. Pairs it is impossible to provide against, and 



340 (Cribbage.) GOOD PLAY. 

the chance of making a flush is remote, but should be avoided if 
there is any choice. The best baulk is a King and Nine ; tenth 
cards and Aces are also very good cards to lay out. Cards which 
are at least two pips apart, called wide cards, are better than 
close cards, as the latter may form sequences. Fives are very 
bad discards, and so are any cards that form a five or a fifteen. 

The Crib. In laying out for his own crib, the dealer should 
preserve his own hand as much as possible; but other things 
being equal, the best cards to lay out are pairs, close cards, and 
cards that form fives, such as Fours and Aces. If these elements 
can be combined, so much the better. _ An Eight and a Seven, for 
instance, are not only close cards, being only one pip apart, but 
form a fifteen. The same is true of a trey and deuce. 

Keeping. In selecting the hand to keep, much depends on 
the score. Early in the game you want a counting hand ; near the 
end, especially if you have only four or five points to go, you want 
a pegging hand ; that is, one with every card different, so that you 
can pair several cards, or make fifteens with almost anything that 
the pone may lead. In keeping a counting hand, much depends 
on whether it is good in itself, or needs a starter. In reckoning on 
the possibilities of the starter, it must never be forgotten that there 
are sixteen tenth cards in the pack, and that they are therefore the 
most probable starters of all. It is better to keep sequences open 
at both ends than those open in the middle. With two Sevens 
and two Eights, either a Six or a Nine will make your hand worth 
24 ; but with two Eights and two Sixes, nothing but a Seven will 
improve your hand more than 4 points. Sequences are the best 
to keep, especially those of three cards with a duplicate. After 
them pairs royal are valuable, and next to them cards which will 
make a number of fives in various combinations, such as two Threes 
and two deuces. 

Leading. There are two systems of playing, known as 
playing off, and playing on, and they are selected according 
to the player's position in the score. Long experience has shown 
that in six-card Cribbage the average expectation of the non-dealer 
for his hand and play is 1 2 points ; and for the dealer, in hand, 
crib, and play, is 17. This being so, each player having had a 
deal, their scores should be about 29. If a player is 29 or more, 
he is said to be at home; and if he is seven or more points ahead 
of his adversary on even deals, he is said to be safe at home. 
When a player is safe at home,, he should play off ; that is, take no 
chances of scoring himself that might give his adversary a chance 
to make a still better score. This is usually found in the method 
of playing sequences. A player who avoids playing cards that 
might lead up to a run is said to play off. If he invites the run, 
hoping to make it longer himself, he is said to play on. When a 



PLAYING OFF. (Cribbage.) 341 

player is behind, it is better for him to play on, and to seize every 
chance to score, especially with sequences. As it is considered an 
advantage to be ahead on the first deal, most players prefer a for- 
ward game on the opening hand. 

Playing Off. In this it is best to play cards on which it is 
unlikely that your adversary can score. Lead Aces, Twos and 
Threes, which cannot be made into fifteens. Do not pair his cards 
unless you have a card which will make you a double pair royal, 
(without passing 31,) if he should make a pair royal on you. Do 
not play close cards which he may turn into sequences. 

Never play a card which will allow the adversary to make a 
double score, such as a pair and a fifteen, or a sequence and a 
fifteen at the same time. Such as the following are all bad plays : 
9 on 3 ; 7 on A ; 6 on 3, 4, or 5 ; 5 on 5 ; 4 on 7 ; 3 on 9 ; A on 7. 
All these expose you to the immediate rejoinder of a double count. 
Of course, if you have the card to make a pair royal in return, that 
is another matter, and is playing on, not playing off. 

Do notplay a card which brings the pip count to 5 or 21 if you 
can help it ; because any tenth card will enable your adversary to 
peg two holes. Be a little wary about pairing the first card played, 
unless you have a third of the same denomination. If you have a 
choice between a pair and a sequence, your decision will depend 
on whether you are playing off or on. If you are playing off, 
make the pair, and take no chances of long runs. 

Playing On. In this you play to give your adversary a count, 
hoping to make a better yourself. It is always advantageous to 
play one of a pair, and to begin with one end of a sequence. If 
he pairs your first card, you can reply with a pair royal. If he 
plays to make a sequence, you can sometimes hold him off until 
you get the score, and he will be unable to continue the run with- 
out passing 31. Play one of two cards that form a five, such as 3 
and 2 ; 4 and A. If he plays a tenth card to it, you can peg fif- 
teen. In playing on, you should make all the sequences possible, 
taking chances of your adversary's being able to continue the run. 
If you think he is leading you on, you must be guided by the state 
of the score as to how much you can risk. 

Toward the end, you must reckon pretty closely how many 
points you can afford to risk your adversary's making without 
putting him out. If you have enough in your hand to get out on 
the show, you should not attempt to make a single point in play. 
Pair nothing, for he might come out with a pair royal ; make no 
runs, for he might extend them. But if you have not enough to 
show out, you must take every chance to peg the difference, because 
if you cannot get out in play and first show, the dealer has not 
only both hand and crib against you, but the first show on the 
next deal. In six-card Cribbage, the usual pegging for the play is 



342 (Cribbage,) PLAYING ON. 

five holes for the dealer, and four or five for the non-dealer. By 
adding this expectation to your show, you can see how many you 
can hope to peg yourself, and how many the dealer will probably 
be on hand, crib and peg altogether. The hands should average 
7 points, and the cribs 5. 



FIVE-CARD CRIBBAGE. 

In this form of the game only five cards are dealt to each player, 
one at a time. Two of these are laid out for the crib, and the 
three remaining are used in play, exactly as in the six-card game. 

Three for Last. The non-dealer on the first hand of each 
game is allowed to peg three holes as a compensation for the ad- 
vantage his adversary derives from having the first deal. Al- 
. though the rules allow these three to be pegged at any time during 
the game, they should be put up immediately, in order to avoid 
disputes. 

There is no further play after a go is declared, or either player 
has reached 31. The score for 31 is two holes; and for the go, 
one hole. Great importance is attached to the score for the go at 
five-card Cribbage, because so little is made in play that every 
point counts. 

The Crib. This is the most important thing in the five-card 
game, and it is much more important to baulk your adversary's 
crib than to preserve your own hand. The best baulking cards 
are a King with a 10, 9, 8, 7, 6 or A. Never lay out a Jack, nor 
two cards which form a five, nor any pair, nor any two close cards. 
In laying out for your own crib, Fives, Sevens and Eights are the 
best. Any pair, any two cards that make five or fifteen, and any 
close cards are also good. Keep pairs royal and runs in your 
hand, and do not forget that a flush of three counts in the hand ; 
but the starter must agree to make a flush in the crib. 

Playing Off and On. The pegging in play is usually small ; 
2 for the dealer, and an average of i£ for the non-dealer, hence 
the importance of the go. The average hand is a little less than 5, 
and the crib about 5. The player is at home if he has pegged 17 
in two deals, his own and his adversary's. He is safe at home if 
he is 7 ahead, or his adversary is 7 behind. 

In Five-card Cribbage, more than any other game, it is true 
that a game is never won until it is lost. Take the following ex- 
ample, in which the pone is 56 up, and the dealer has pegged 



FIVE-CARD CBIBBAGE. (Cribfeagc) 343 

only 5 holes altogether. The separated cards show those laid out 
for the crib, and the odd card is the starter. 



Pone ; — 
Dealer ; — 



*** 

* * 

* * 


v 

* * 


O 






* * 
4. * 


<9 

9? 












4. * 

* * 

* * 


9 9? 
9? <? 


* * 




* 

* 


* 
* 



mm Lil 



The pone leads a Seven, and afterwards pairs the dealer's Six, 
P e ggi n g to 58. The dealer pegs 6 for the pair royal, and is told 
to go. This enables the dealer to make a double pair royal and 
31, pegging fourteen holes more. (The last card does not count 
when a go or 31 is pegged). On the show the pone has only a 
pair, which puts him to 60, within one of the game hole. The 
dealer shows 12 in hand and 17 in crib, making him 54 up. In 
the next deal the player who wanted one could not peg, his ad- 
versary securing a fifteen and a go, and showing out with a pair and 
a fifteen, 61 up and game. 



THREE-HANDED CRIBBAGE. 

Five cards are dealt to each player, and then another, face down, 
for the foundation of the crib. Each player then lays out one 
card to make the dealer's crib up to four. The starter is cut by 
the player on the dealer's left, and the game proceeds as at six- 
card Cribbage, the eldest hand having the first show, the dealer 
the last. 



FOUR-HANDED CRIBBAGE. 

When four play, they cut for partners, choice of seats, and deal ; 
the two lowest pairing against the two highest, and the lowest 
taking the first deal and crib. The game is usually 121 points up. 
or twice round the board, and only one player on each side keeps 
the score. 

Five cards are dealt to each player, one at a time, and one of 
these is discarded from eadh hand to form the crib, leaving four 
cards with which to play. The right-hand adversary of the dealer 
cuts for deal ; the left-hand adversary for the starter. The eldest 



344 (Cribbage.) FOTJR-BANBED GAME. 

hand plays first, and all pairs, sequences, and fifteens are scored 
by the side making them. If a player says " go," his left-hand 
neighbour must play, or pass the go to the next player on his left. 
In this way it may pass entirely round the table to the last player, 
who will then peg for it. 

At this game there is a great deal more in the play than in either 
hand or crib. The average hand and crib is the same as at six- 
card Cribbage, 7 for the hand and 5 for the crib, but the play 
for the partners will run to 8 or 10 holes. Either side should be 
at home with 48 to 50 on two deals ; four individual hands of f 
each, four plays of five each, and one crib of 5, 



SEVEN-CARD CRIBBAGE 

This form of the game for two players differs from the others only 
in the number of cards dealt to each player, which is seven. Two 
are laid out for the crib, and five kept for playing. There being 
six cards in each hand, with the starter, the counting combinations 
sometimes run into high figures, and it is therefore usual to play 
the game 121 or even 181 points up. 



There are no authoritative LA WS for Cribbage, but the fore- 
going descriptions contain all the regulations in force at the best 
clubs. 



TEXT BOOKS. 



The Cribbage Player's Handbook, by Walker. 
Bezique and Cribbage, by Berkeley. 
Pocket Guide to Cribbage, by "Cavendish." 
Bohn's Handbook of Games. 
Cribbage, by Rawdon Crawley. 
Dick's Handbook of Cribbage. 



(Piquet.) 345 

PIQUET. 

Piquet is supposed to have been introduced during the reign of 
Charles VII., and was designed as a motif for a ballet of living 
cards which was given in the palace of Chinon. Of the etymology 
of the word piquet, little or nothing is known, but the game itself 
is one of those perennials that have survived much more pretentious 
rivals, and, thanks to its intrinsic merits, it has never since its in- 
vention ceased to be more or less a la mode. 

There are several varieties of Piquet, but the straightforward 
game for two players, sometimes called Piquet au Cent, or ioo 
points up, is the most common and popular, and will be first de- 
scribed. 

CARDS* Piquet is played with a pack of thirty- two cards, 
all below the Seven being deleted. The cards rank : AKOJio 
9 8 7, the Ace being the highest both in cutting and in play, 
There is no trump in Piquet, and all suits are equal in value. Two 
packs are sometimes used, one by each player in his proper turn to 
deal. 

The cards have a certain pip-counting value, the Ace being 
reckoned for it, other court cards for io each, and the 7 8 9 10 for 
their face value. 

MARKERS. As the scores are not put down until the end 
of the hand or play the game is usually kept on a sheet of paper, 
or it may be marked on a cribbage board. 

PLAYERS. Piquet is played by two persons, who sit oppo- 
site each other. They are known as the dealer, and the elder 
hand or pone. 

CUTTING. They cut for seats and cards, the lower cut 
having the choice, and dealing the first hand. If a player exposes 
more than one card the lowest of those exposed must be taken as 
his cut. Ties are decided by cutting a second time. 

STAKES. Piquet is played for so much a game of 100 
points ; but if the loser has not reached 50 points he is lurched, 
and loses a double game. 

DEALING. The cards shuffled, they are presented to the 
pone to be cut, and at least two cards must be left in each packet. 
Twelve cards are dealt to each player, either two or three at a 
time ; but whichever method is first selected must be maintained 
throughout the game. In England the cards are always dealt by 
twos. No trump is turned. The remaining eight cards are placed 
face downward on the table, the five top cards being laid cross- 
wise on the three at the bottom. These eight cards are called the 
talon or stock. Each player deals in turn. 



346. (Piquet) DEALING. 

Irregularities in Dealing. If the pack is proved to be 

imperfect the deal is void, but all previous scores or cuts made 
with that pack stand good. A misdeal does not lose the deal under 
any circumstances. If a card is found faced in the pack there must 
be a fresh deal with the same cards. If a player deals out of turn, 
and detects the error himself before he sees any of his cards, he 
may insist on his adversary's dealing, even if the adversary has 
seen his cards. As the deal is a disadvantage the adversary is not 
bound to correct the player in error. 

If the dealer gives too many or too few cards to either player a 
new deal is at the option of the adversary. The error will of 
course be detected when it is found that there are only seven cards 
in the talon. If the non-dealer elects to have the deal stand, the 
error in the player's hand must be remedied in the discard, as will 
presently be described, and the stock must be divided 4-3 or 5-2, 
according to which player has" too many cards. 

Carte Blanche. The cards dealt, each player takes up his 
twelve cards and sorts them into suits. If the pone finds himself 
without a K Q or J, he should immediately claim 10 points for 
carte blanche. If the dealer holds carte blanche, he does not de- 
clare it until the pone has discarded. 

DISCARDING. The five cards on the top of the talon be- 
long to the pone, and he may discard from his hand any number 
of cards from one to five, and replace them by an equal number 
from the top of the stock. He must take at least one card, and he 
must take from the talon in the natural order of the cards. If he 
has elected to let a deal stand in which he has been given thirteen 
cards, he is entitled to four cards only from the talon, and must in 
all cases leave himself with twelve cards after his discard and draw 
are completed. If he does not take all five cards, he must an- 
nounce distinctly how many he leaves, for if he fails to do so the 
dealer is not liable for having too many cards. 

The dealer then discards, first declaring carte blanche if he holds 
it. In England, he need not draw at all, in France he must draw 
at least one card. Besides the three cards which belong to him, 
he is entitled to take as many as he pleases of those left by the 
pone, and in drawing from the talon he must take the cards in the 
order in which they come. If two cards are left by the pone, for 
instance, and the dealer wants three only, he must take the two 
left by the pone and one of his own three, leaving the two others 
face down on the table. The number of cards in hand after the 
discard and draw must be exactly twelve. Only one discard is al- 
lowed, and having been made it cannot be changed after the stock 
has been touched. 

If the pone does not take all the cards to which he is entitled, he 
is allowed to look at those that remain of the first five that were on 



DISCARDING. (Piquet) 347 

the talon ; but on no account may he look at any of the deal- 
er's three. If the dealer leaves any cards in the stock, he has 
a right to look at them, but the pone may not see them until he 
has led for the first trick, or announced the suit he will lead. 
If he announces a suit, and after seeing the cards in the stock 
does not lead that suit, the dealer may call a suit. If the dea- 
ler does not look at the remaining cards the pone cannot see them 
either. 

Each player keeps his discards separate from those of his adver- 
sary, and is allowed to refer to them at any time during the play 
of the hand, but on no account can he see his adversary's dis- 
cards, unless that adversary has mixed with them one or more of 
the unseen cards that were left in the stock, and afterward picks 
up and looks at his discard, including the card which the other is 
entitled to see. For instance : The dealer leaves a card without 
looking at it. This he afterward mixes with his discard. Now, if 
he looks at his discard, of course he sees the card left in the stock, 
and the pone may demand to see not only the card left, but the 
entire discard. The same rule applies to the Done if he takes into 
his discards an unseen card of the stock. 

Irregular Discards. If a player discards less cards than 
he intended, it is too late to remedy the error if he has touched the 
stock. If he discards too many cards, as the dealer frequently will 
by laying out five instead of three, he may take them back if he has 
not touched those in the stock, but if he touches any card in the 
stock, he must play with the short hand if there are not enough 
cards left in the stock to make his hand up to twelve. 

Irregular Drawing, If the pone draws one of the three 
cards which properly belong to the dealer, he loses the game ; and 
if the dealer draws any of the first five, before the pone has an- 
nounced that he leaves them, the dealer loses the game. The 
dealer has no right to touch any part of the stock until the pone 
has discarded and drawn ; but if the pone draws without making 
any announcement about leaving cards, the dealer has a right to 
assume that five cards have been taken, and that only three remain 
in the stock. For instance : The pone discards five cards, but 
draws four only, without saying anything. The dealer proceeds 
to discard and draw. He has of course taken one of the pone's 
cards, but it is too late to remedy the error or claim a penalty, and 
the pone must play with eleven cards. It is evident that the 
dealer will have too many cards, but as he has been led into the 
error by his adversary, he must be allowed to discard to reduce his 
hand to twelve. 

If a player takes a card too many from the stock, he may replace 
it if he has not put it with the other cards in his hand. If he has 
seen it, he must show it to his adversary. If the superfluous card 
has been taken into the hand, the player must have too many 



348 (Piquet.) DRAWING. 

cards, and can score nothing that deal. This does not prevent the 
adversary from scoring anything he may have in hand or play, 
even if it is inferior. 

If a player is found to have too few cards after the draw, he may 
still play and count all he can make, but he cannot win a capot, 
because he has no card for the last trick, which must be won by 
his adversary. 

The Stock, If a player looks at one of his adversary's cards 
in the stock before or during the draw, he can count nothing that 
hand. If he looks at a card left in the talon after the draw, which 
he is not entitled to see, his adversary may call a suit from him as 
many times as he has seen cards. If a card of the talon is acci- 
dentally exposed, the^player to .whom it would naturally belong 
may demand a fresh deal. 

OBJECTS OF THE GAME. In order to understand tne 
principles that guide players in discarding, the objects of the game 
must first be explained. There are three classes of counting com- 
binations at Piquet, and the player that holds the better of each 
class, scores it. These combinations are : Point ; Sequence ; 
Fours and Triplets. 

The JPoint is the suit having the greatest pip value, reckoning 
the Ace as n, court cards as 10 each, and the 10 9 8 7 at their 
face value. If one player's best suit contains five cards, worth 48 
points, and his adversary has a suit worth 51, the latter would 
be the only one to count, and it would be called the point for that 
deal. 

The value of the point is the number of cards that go to make 
it. In England, they count a point containing the 7 8 and 9 as 
worth one less than the number of cards. This is a modern in- 
vention, unknown to the older writers on the game, and not always 
played. 

Sequence, Three or more cards of the same suit, if next in 
value to one another, form a sequence. The French terms are 
generally used to designate the number of cards in the sequence : 
Tierce, Quatrieme, Quinte, Sixieme, Septieme, Huitieme. Many 
English works on cards erroneously spell quinte without the " e," 
and give " quart " for a sequence of four. If one is going to use 
the French language at all, it may as well be used correctly. 

Sequences outrank one another according to the best card, if 
they are of equal length ; so that a quinte to a King would be 
better than a quinte to a Queen ; but a longer sequence always 
outranks a shorter one, regardless of the high cards. The player 
holding the best sequence is entitled to score it, together with any 
inferior sequences he may hold in other suits. Should his adver- 
sary hold intermediate sequences, they are of no value. For in- 
stance : One player holds a quinte to the Jack in spades, a tierce 



SEQUENCES. (Piquet) 349 

to the Ten in hearts, and a tierce to the Nine in clubs; while the 
other holds a quatrieme majeure (A K Q J) in hearts, diamonds, 
and clubs. None of the latter are of any value ; but all those in 
the other hand are good. If the best sequence is a tie, no se- 
quences can be scored by either player. 

The value of a sequence is ten more than the number of cards 
that go to form it, provided that number exceeds four. A tierce 
counts 3 only, and a quatrieme 4 only; but a quinte is worth 15, a 
sixieme 16, and so on. 

Fours, and Triplets, Any four cards of the same denomi- 
nation, higher than a Nine, is called a Quatorze ; three of any kind 
higher than the Nine is called a Trio, or sometimes a Brelan. As 
a trio is seldom mentioned without naming the denomination, it is 
usual to say ; " Three Kings," or " Three Jacks," as the case may 
be. The 7 8 and 9 have no value except in point and sequence. 
The player holding the quatorze of the highest rank may score any 
inferior ones that he may hold, and also any trios. Should his 
adversary hold any intermediate ones, they are of no value. In 
the absence of any quatorze, the best trio decides which player 
shall count all the trios he may have in his hand, his adversary 
counting none. For instance : One player holds four Tens and 
three Jacks, his adversary holding triplets of Aces, Kings, and 
Queens. None of the latter would be of any value, as the low- 
est quatorze is better than the highest trio, and the player with 
the four Tens could count his three Jacks also. Pairs have no 
value. 

The value of any quatorze is 14, as its name implies. Trios are 
worth 3 only. 

In discarding, the object is to secure the best counting combina- 
tions, and also to retain cards which will win tricks in play. The 
combinations take precedence of one another in scoring, the first 
being always Carte Blanche, then the Point, then Sequence, and 
lastly the Quatorze or Trio. 

DECLARING. Carte blanche must be announced and 
shown before a discard is made. Each player having discarded 
and drawn, the elder hand proceeds to announce any counting 
combinations he holds, which he must declare in regular order, 
beginning with the point. In announcing the point, the suit is not 
mentioned, only its value. The sequences are defined by the num- 
ber of cards and the highest ; " sixieme to the King," for instance. 
The fours and trios are defined in the same way ; " four Kings," or 
"three Jacks." 

To each of these declarations, as they are made in regular order, 
the dealer must reply -. " Good," " Equal," or, " Not good," 
If the point is admitted to be good, the holder scores it; not by 
putting it down on the score sheet, but simply by beginning his 
count with the number of points it is worth. If the point is equal, 



350 (Piquet.) DECLARING. 

neither player scores it, and secondary points have no value under 
any circumstances. If the point declared by the elder hand is not 
good, it is not necessary for the dealer to say how much better his 
point is; that will come later. To each of the other declarations 
replies are made in the same manner, except that fours and trios 
cannot be "equal." As each combination is admitted to be good, 
the elder hand adds it to his count. For instance : His point is 51, 
good ; his sequence is five to the Ace, good ; and his triplet of 
Aces is good. These are worth 5, 15, and 3 respectively, and his 
total count is 23, if he has no minor sequences or trios. This is 
not put down, but simply announced. 

The strict rules of the game require the player whose combina- 
tion is acknowledged to be good, to show it; but among good 
players this is quite unnecessary, for each usually knows by his own 
cards what his adversary should and probably does hold. 

The ejder hand having finished his declarations, and announced 
their total value in points, leads any card he pleases. If this card 
is a Ten or better, he claims one point for leading it, even if he 
does not win the trick, and he adds this point to his score. 

An illustration will probably make the foregoing processes 
clearer. The elder hand, after the draw, holds these cards : — 

<?AKQJ:*AKQ:oAKQ7:*A. 

He announces : " Forty-one." " Not good." " Quatrieme to the 
Ace." " Not good." " Quatorze Aces," which he knows is good ; 
and which admits of his counting his triplets of Kings and Queens. 
These are worth collectively 20 points, and on leading one of his 
Aces he announces " Twenty-one." 

The dealer, before playing a card, proceeds to claim the count 
for the combinations which are good in his own hand, which is as 
follows :— 

* J 10 9 8 : J 10 9 : ♦ K Q J 10 9. 

The point is worth 5; the quinte 15, the quatrieme 4, and the 
tierce 3 ; 27 altogether. His trios of Jacks and Tens are shut out 
by the superior combinations in the elder hand. 

Having claimed these 27 points, and their correctness having 
been admitted by the elder hand, the dealer proceeds to play a 
card. If either player has forgotten to declare anything before he 
plays, the count is lost. 

Sinking, A player is not obliged to declare any combination 
unless he wishes to do so, and he may sink a card if he thinks it 
would be to his advantage to conceal his hand. Sinking is calling 
only part of a combination, as, for instance, calling 51 for his point 
when he really has 61 ; calling a quinte when he has a sixieme, or 
a trio when he has a quatorze. Sinking is usually resorted to 



DECLARING. (Piquet) . 351 

only when the player knows from his own hand and discards that 
what he declares is still better than anything his adversary can 
hold ; but it must be remembered that the part of the declaration 
which is sunk in this manner is lost. 

Irregular Declarations. If either player claims a combi- 
nation which he does not hold, and does not remedy the error be- 
fore he plays a card, he cannot count anything that deal, losing any 
other declarations he may have made which are correct. His ad- 
versary then counts everything in his hand, whether his combina- 
tions were inferior or not. He also counts for what he wins in the 
tricks. 

If the elder hand's declaration is admitted by the dealer to be. 
good, it is good, even if the dealer afterward proves to have a bet- 
ter point, sequence, quatorze or trio. If any combination named 
by the elder hand is not actually his best, he cannot amend his. 
declaration after the dealer has replied to it. This is in order to 
prevent a player from getting information to which he is not en- 
titled. If he holds three Kings and three Tens, for instance, 
and announces the Tens in order to find out whether or not his. 
adversary has three Queens or Jacks, and the dealer says : " Not 
good," the three Kings are lost, and the dealer scores his own 
trios. 

It sometimes happens that in order to keep a good point or se- 
quence, a player will discard one card of a quatorze originally 
dealt him ; or one of a trio, of which he afterward draws the 
fourth. He can score only the trio, of course ; but his adversary,, 
having none of that denomination either in his hand or discards, 
knows that four were possible, and after playing a card he has a 
right to ask the suit of the card which was discarded. 

METHOD OF PLAYING. The elder hand can lead 
any card he pleases, announcing the suit at the same time. The- 
dealer is bound to follow suit, if able, but he is not obliged to win 
the trick. As there are no trumps, the higher card, if of the suit 
led, w r ins the trick. If the second player does not follow suit, 
the leader wins. The winner of one trick leads for the next, and 
so on until all twelve tricks are played. 

Every time a card is played which is better than a Nine, the 
leader counts one for it, adding the number to the total value of 
his score as already announced. If the second player wins the 
trick with any card better than a Nine he also counts one ; but if 
the trick is won by the player who led, there is no extra count for 
winning it. The winner of the last trick counts one for it, in 
addition to his count for winning it with a card better than a Nine. 
If the leader wins it, he gets the one exti i 

If each player wins six tricks, there is no further scoring ; but if 
either player wins the odd trick he adds to his score ten pojnts 



352 (Piquet) REPIC. 

for cards, in addition to all other scores. If either player wins 
all twelve tricks, which would be the case in the example hand 
just given as an illustration, he adds to his score forty points for 
the capot; but this forty points includes the scores for the last 
trick and for the odd trick. 

A card once laid on the table cannot be taken back, unless the 
player has renounced in error. There is no revoke in Piquet, 
and if a player has one of the suit led he must play it. If he fails 
to do so, when the error is discovered the cards must be taken 
back and replayed. 

REPIC. If either "player is able to reach 30 by successive 
declarations, beginning with the point, all of which are admitted 
by his adversary to be good, he adds 60 to his score, making it 90 
instead of 30, and this is irrespective of what his adversary may 
have in minor or inferior combinations. The important thing to 
remember in repic is that declarations always count in regular 
order, carte blanche taking precedence of everything ; then the 
point, sequences, and quatorze or trio. Suppose elder hand to 
hold the following cards : — ■ 

<5KQJio 9 ;*AKQ;0AQ9;*Q. 

If the quinte to the King is admitted good for the point, it must 
be good for the sequence also. That is 20. The four Queens 
must be good, as the adversary cannot have any quatorze. This 
makes the total 34, and 60 added for repic, 94 altogether, to which 
he will add one for leading the first card, if it is above a Nine. 

Suppose the elder hand had the following cards : — 

<?AKQJ8;*AK;0AK;*AKio. 

, If his point is good, that and his four Aces and Kings will make 
him 33 altogether; but his sequence is not good, because the 
dealer holds five diamonds to the Queen, which comes in order 
before the score for quatorze, and so saves the repic. Suppose 
that with the foregoing cards the elder hand was told that even 
his point was not good. He would count 29 for the 14 Aces, 14 
Kings, and the card led. If the dealer had a sixieme in diamonds, 
and a quinte in clubs, for instance, he would claim a repic, 96 
points, in spite of the 29 announced by the elder hand ; because 
point and sequence score before quatorze. 

Equalities do not save the repic. Take the following hands :— 

Elder :— y A J 10 9 8 ; * 10; o 10 ; ♦ A J 10 9 8. 

Dealer:— ^K Q; *AKQ; 0AKQJ7; *KQ. 

The point is equal. The quatrieme to the Jack is not good 
and the four Tens are not good ; so elder hand leads a card, and 



PIC. (Piquet) 353 

counts, " One." The dealer then claims repic, 95 points, which is 
good, although the elder hand had an equal point. 

PIC. If either player can reach 30 in hand and play combined, 
before his adversary scores anything, 30 are added for the pic. 
Pic can never be made by the dealer unless the eider hand leads a 
card smaller than a Nine ; he must make repic if anything. To 
make pic the elder hand must reach 30 in the regular order of 
scoring. Suppose he holds these cards : — 

<?A9;*AKQJ;0KQJioo;0K. , 

If the dealer acknowledges the point to be good, everything else 
in the. hand must be good also. This will give the elder hand 27 
before playing a card ; 5 for the point, 1 5 and 4 for the sequences, 
and 3 for the Kings. By leading out the A K and Q. 3 more 
points are secured, the dealer having nothing to score, and so the 
elder hand reaches 30 and makes the pic, counting 60, and still 
having the lead. Equalities do not save pic. 

According to the strict rules of the game, a player who is play- 
ing for pic is not allowed to count 30 at all, but must jump from 
his last count, 29, to 60, or he loses the pic ; but this is seldom 
or never insisted on. 

SCORING. The last card played, the total number of points 
made by each player are put down on the score sheet, or marked 
on a cribbage board, and if neither player has reached 100 points, 
the deal passes to the one who was elder hand on the last deal. 

The order of scoring should be carefully observed, in order to 
determine which goes out first, and whether or not a player is 
lurched. Carte blanche, The Point, Sequence, Quatorze or Trio, 
Repic, Points for Leading or Winning, Pic, the Odd Trick, Capot. 

If one player reaches 100 before his adversary has reached 50, it 
is a lurch, and counts a double game. 

Abandoned Hands. If a player throws down his cards, he 
may still take them up again, unless he or his adversary have 
mixed their cards with the discards, or with the remainder of the 
talon. 

SUGGESTIONS FOB GOOD PLAY. The chief 
points for the beginner are good discarding, and taking advantage 
of tenace positions in the play, so as to secure the count for cards, 
which is often important. 

Elder Hand. In discarding, the pone should consider what 
there may be against him. If it is unlikely that he will lose a pic 
or repic, he should try for the point, which very often carries 
with it the sequence. It must be remembered that there are only 
eight cards in each suit, and by comparing those that you hold with 
those that your adversary may hold it is comparatively easy, in the 



354 (Piquet) GOOD PLAY. 

majority of hands, to estimate the possible scores against you. 
Next to the point, the most important thing is the score for 
. cards. The point will save pic and repic, but the cards will make 
the greatest difference In the score in the long run. Sequences are 
always valuable, especially those that are Ace high in the elder 
hand, because they enable him to win a succession of tricks in 
play. 

The elder hand should risk a good deal if he has a fair chance 
to make a pic or repic, which will often settle the game. If there 
is any choice as to what to keep of two nearly equal chances, 
always preserve the combination that will be most likely to secure 
the count for cards. 

In Leading, it is best to begin with the point, unless you 
know that you are leading up to tenace, or to high cards that will 
bring in a long adverse suit. The piquet player soon learns the 
importance of tenace and fourchette, and can sometimes see how 
things must be managed for five or six tricks ahead, so as to secure 
the odd trick. Tenace is the best and third-best of any suit, such 
as A Q, while a fourchette is any two" cards within one of each 
other, such as K J, or Q 10, and the lead from such combinations 
should always be avoided. If you have the odd trick in hand, 
make it at once, before you risk anything else, because the only 
difference between the odd trick and eleven tricks is the count for 
each card led in the tricks. 

The Dealer. The first thing to guard against is a long run 
of winning leads from the elder hand, which might make the odd 
trick, or even capot. As there are no trumps it is very important 
for the dealer to keep guarded Kings and twice-guarded Queens. 
The principal thing for the dealer to remember is that if he cannot 
stop a long suit in the elder hand, he will have to provide in ad- 
vance for a certain number of discards, and these must be so 
planned that guards will be preserved in the other suits. He 
should also get his hand into such condition that when he does 
get into the lead, he will not have to lead away from tenaces or 
guarded Kings. Careful attention to his adversary's declarations, 
and a comparison of his own hand with his discards will usually 
guide the dealer to a correct conclusion as to what to keep and 
what to throw away in playing to tricks. 

Mathematicians have exhausted their resources on Piquet, but 
their conclusions are of little use to the average player. The sub- 
ject of discards has been very fully illustrated by examples from 
actual play, especially in the Westminster Papers, but^ no one has 
yet given us any simple rules like the jeux de regie at Ecarte. 



(Cassino*) 355 

CASSINO. 

This is a very old and always popular game, which has lately 
been much improved by the introduction of the variations known 
as Royal and Spade Cassino, the latter especially being a very 
lively game. Like Euchre, Cassino is eminently respectable, and 
is one of the few games of cards that are unhesitatingly admitted 
to the domestic circle. 

Cards. Cassino is played with a full pack of fifty-two cards, 
which have no rank in play, their pip or face value being the only 
element of importance. In cutting for positions at the table, or 
for partners in the four-handed game, the Ace is the lowest card, 
the others ranking upward to the King in the order of their se- 
quence. 

Markers. When a certain number of points is agreed on as a 
game, the score may be kept with counters, on a sheet of paper, 
or on a cribbage board. If each hand is a game in itself, it is 
settled for immediately, either in counters or in money. 

Players. Any number from two to four may play, each for 
himself, or four may play two against two, partners sitting opposite 
each other. The players on the dealer's right and left are known 
as the pone, and the eldest hand respectively. 

Cutting. The players draw from an outspread pack for po- 
sitions at the table, the lowest card having the choice and dealing 
the first hand. If the first cut does not decide, those tying must 
cut again. If a player exposes more than one card he must cut 
again. The ace is low. 

Stakes. Cassino may be played for so much a game, or so 
much a point ; and it may be agreed that the game shall be a 
certain number of points, or shall be complete in one deal, or that 
the player making the majority of points on each deal shall score 
one, and the one first making a certain number in this manner, 
such as five, shall be the winner. If points are played for, the 
lower score is usually deducted from the higher, and the difference 
is the value of the game. It is sometimes agreed that if the win- 
ner has twice as many points as his adversary, he shall be paid for 
a double game. 

Dealing. After the cards have been properly shuffled they 
must be presented to the pone to be cut, and he must leave at 
least four in each packet. Beginning on his left, the dealer dis- 
tributes four cards to each player in two rounds of two at a time, 
giving two to the table just before helping himself in each round. 
No trump is turned, and the remainder of the pack is left face 
downward on the dealer's left. The four cards dealt to the table 



356 (Cassino.) DEALING. 

are then turned face up, and the play begins. After the four cards 
given to each person have all been played, the dealer takes up 
the remainder of the pack, and without any further shuffling or 
' cutting, deals four more cards to each player/two at a time, but 
gives none to the table. These four having been played, four more 
are dealt in the same manner, and so on, until the pack is ex- 
hausted, after which the deal passes to the left in regular rotation. 

Irregularities in the Deal. If the pack is proved to be im- 
perfect, or if a card is found faced in the pack there must be a fresh 
deal by the same dealer. If a player deals out of turn, he must 
be stopped before the, cards on the table are turned face upward. 

A misdeal loses the deal. It is a misdeal if the pack has not been 
cut, or if the cards are shuffled after the pack has been properly 
cut ; or if the dealer deals a card incorrectly, and fails to remedy 
it before dealing to the next player ; or if he deals too many or too 
few cards to any player or to the table. 

If a card is exposed during the deal, an adversary may claim a 
fresh deal. If, after the cards on the table have been faced, a 
card is exposed by the dealer, or is found faced in the pack, the 
player to whom it would be dealt may reject it, and it must then be 
placed in the middle of the stock, and he must be given the top 
card. If a card is exposed in the last round, the dealer must take 
it, and must allow the player to whom it would have been dealt to 
draw a card from the dealer's hand, face downward. If he draws 
the exposed card, he must keep it. 

If the dealer gives any player an incorrect number of cards in 
any round after the first, and does not detect and correct the error 
before he deals to the next player, the dealer cannot count any- 
thing that hand. The number of cards in each hand must be re- 
stored to four, either by drawing from them, face down, or adding 
from the stock. If any player lifts his cards before the dealer has 
helped all the players, including himself, a misdeal cannot be 
claimed. 

Objects of the Game. The object in Cassino is to secure 
certain cards and combinations of cards which count toward game. 
These are as follows : — 

Points. 
The majority of Cards taken in. 3 

The majority of Spades taken in. I 

The Ten of diamonds, Big Cassino. 2 
The deuce of spades, Little Cassino. I 
The Ace of any suit. i 

A Sweep of all the cards on the table. i 

The manner in which these points are secured will become appa- 
rent from the description of the method of playing the hands. 



PLAYING. (Cassino.) 357 

Method of Playing. Beginning on the dealer's left, each 
player in turn plays a card from his hand, placing it face upward 
on the table. Only one card can be played at a time, and each 
person must play in his proper turn until all four of his cards are 
exhausted. After receiving fresh cards, the eldest hand again 
plays first, and so on for every round. Under certain conditions, 
each player in his proper turn may take up certain cards from the 
table, together with the one played from his hand, turning them 
face downward in front of him. He is entitled to count all the 
points contained in the cards taken in or won in this manner. 
These conditions are : that he can match or pair a card or cards 
on the table ; that he can combine two or more cards on the 
table so as to make their total pip value equal to that of the card 
he plays ; or that he can build a card in his hand upon one on 
the table, so as to make their total p ; p value agree with that of a 
second card, still in his hand. 

Pairing, If the person whose turn it is to play, holds in his 
hand any card of a similar denomination to any of those on the 
table, he may play the card from his hand, face upward, and then 
gather it in again, together with all similar cards, turning them 
face downward in front of him. For instance : He holds an 
Eight, and there are one or two Eights on the table. He plays the 
Eight from his hand, and then gathers in all of them. 

Combining. If a player holds any card, not a K Q or J, the 
pip value of which is equal to that of two or more cards on the 
table, he may play the card from his hand, and then gather it in 
again, together with the two or three cards that collectively equal it 
in pip value. For instance : He holds a 9, and a 4, 3 and 2 are 
upon the table. He may combine these three cards, calling atten- 
tion to the fact that their collective value is 9, and then play the 9 
from his own hand, gathering in and turning down all four cards. 
An 8 and Ace, or 6 and 3 might be gathered in the same way ; or 
two such combinations might be gathered at the same time, 3, 2, 
6, 7, for instance, which would make two nines; all of which 
might be gathered by a player holding a 9 in his hand. 

Pairs and combinations may be taken in together. For in- 
stance : Among the cards on the table are a 4, 6, and 10, and the 
player holds a 10. He can gather in not only the pair of Tens, 
b .: the combinations which equal a 10. 

Building* A player may have in his hand two cards, the 
lower of which, if added to a card on the table, would build up its 
value to that of the higher card still in the player's hand. For 
instance : A player holds a 9 and 2, and there is a 7 on the table. 
He may place the 2 on the 7, announcing the total value ; 
" Nine," which will notify other players that those two cards can- 



358 (Cassino.) BUILDING. 

not be separated ; but he cannot take them in until it again comes 
round to his turn to play, because he is allowed to play only one 
card at a time, and he has played his card in making the build. 

Should any other player following him hold a 9, he would be 
entitled to take in this build, but he could not separate the two 
cards forming it. A player holding either a 7 or a 2 could not 
touch either of the cards in the build, because they are no longer 
a 7 and 2, but a 9, for all practical purposes. 

Increasing Builds. If any player held an Ace and a 10 in 

his hand, he could increase the 9 build to a 10 build, by putting his 
Ace on the 7 and 2, and announcing the total value, " Ten." Any 
following player would then be unable to win the build with any- 
thing but a 10, and the player who originally built it a 9 would 
lose it unless he also held a 10 in his hand. Should the build 
remain a 9 until it came round again to the player who originally 
built it, he could then take it in with his 9, or he might himself, in- 
crease it to 10, if he had an Ace and a 10 in his hand ; but in order 
to do this the player must have in his hand the cards to win both 
the original and the increased bunds. A player holding in his 
hand a 10, 3 and 2, but no 8, could not build a 5 on the table to 
an 8, and afterward advance it to 10. He must have the 238 
and 10 all in his own hand to do this. 

Some players imagine that a player cannot increase his own 
build in this manner, even if he has both the cards for the first 
and last build ; but there is no reason why a player should be 
denied a privilege which is freely granted to his adversary. If 
any player can legitimately make or increase a build, all may do 
so, provided they have the proper cards. 

Double Builds. When two cards of the same denomina- 
tion, or two builds of the same value are put together as one, they 
cannot be increased. For instance : A player holds 7 and 3, and 
there are upon the table a 5 2 and 4. He places his 3 on the 4, 
and gathers the 5 and 2 together, announcing the build as " Two 
Sevens." This cannot be increased to 8, 9, or 10 under any cir- 
cumstances, and nothing but a 7 will win it. 

Pairs may be doubled in the same manner. If a player has two 
Nines in his hand, and there is one on the table, he may build on 
the latter with one of his own, announcing, " Two Nines," which 
will prevent any player from building either of them to 10, and 
will entitle the builder to take in both cards with his third Nine 
when it comes round to his turn. Should any other player at the 
table hold the fourth Nine, he could of course take in the build. 

It is necessary to distinguish between building and combining. 
In combining cards, those already on the table are gathered to- 
gether ; in building, or increasing a build, a card must be played 
from the hand. If one player has made a build of any description* 



TAKING IN, (Cassino.) 359 

it cannot be interfered with or increased except by other cards 
from a player's hand, those from the table not being available. 
For instance : One player has built a 5 by combining two Aces on 
the table with a 3 from his hand. On the table are also a 2 and 4 
and a following player holds a 9 and 7. He cannot use the deuce 
on the table to increase the build from 5 to 7, nor the 4 to increase 
it to 9 ; because that would not be building from his hand ; but if 
he held the 4 and 9 in his hand, he could build on the 5. 

The simple rule to be remembered is that no combination of 
cards once announced, and left on the table, can be changed, ex- 
cept by the addition of a card from the hand of some player. 

Taking In. Any player who has made a build is obliged 
either to win it, when it is next his turn to play, or to win some- 
thing else,Jor to make another build. For instance : He has built 
a 5 into a 9 with a 4, and holds another 4 ; if another 5 appears on 
the table before it comes to his turn to play, he may build that into 
a 9 also, with his other 4, announcing, " Two Nines." Or if some 
player should lay out a 4 he could pair it and take it in, leaving 
his 9 build until the next round. In the same way a player 
may increase or win another player's build instead of taking in his 
own. An opponent's build may be increased by cards from the 
hand only. 

In the four-hande^d game, partners may take in one another's 
builds, or may make builds which can be won by the card declared 
in the partner's hand. For instance : One player builds an 8, and 
his partner holds Little Cassino. If there is a 6 on the table, the 
Cassino can be built on it, and " two Eights," called, although the 
player has no 8 in his own hand ; the 8 already built by his part- 
ner is sufficient. If a player has built a 9 which has been taken 
in by an adversary, he still holding the 9 he built for, his partner 
may build for the declared 9 in the same way. 

Sweeping, If at any time a player is able to win everything 
on the table with one card, it is a sweep, and counts a point. For 
instance : He holds an 8, and there are upon the table four cards 
only : — 536 and 2. By combining the 6 and 2, and the 5 and 3, 
two Eights will be formed, and the sweep is made. Sweeps are 
usually marked by leaving the cards with which they are made 
face upward at the bottom of the tricks taken in by the player. 
Sweeps made by opposite sides are sometimes turned down to 
cancel one another. 

Trailing, When a player cannot pair, combine, or build any- 
thing, he must play a card. This is called trailing, because he is 
simply following along waiting for opportunities. In trailing it is 
usually the best policy to play the smaller cards, except Aces and 
Little Cassino, because as other players will probably trail small 
cards also, these may be combined and won with the larger cards 
kept in the player's hand. 



360 (Cassino.) IRREGULARITIES. 

Last Cards. In the last round, all the cards remaining on 
the table are won by the player who takes the last trick, but it 
does not count as a sweep unless it would have been a sweep un- 
der any circumstances. The last trick is usually made by the 
dealer, who always keeps back a court card if he has one, to pair 
one already on the table. 

Irregularities in Play. If any person plays out of his 
proper turn, the card so played is laid aside as exposed, until it 
comes to his turn, when it is simply placed on the table with the 
others. The player in error is not allowed to build or combine it, 
nor to win anything with it. 

If a player gathers in a card which does not belong to the com- 
bination or build, he must not only return the card improperly 
taken up, but all others taken in with it, together with his own 
card, the latter, however, being laid out separately from the others. 
If the combination was his own build, it must be broken up ; if an 
adversary's, it must be restored, and left as it was. 

If a player takes in a build with a wrong card, or takes in a wrong 
combination, or gathers cards to which he is not entitled, the error 
must be challenged and proved before the next trick is taken in by 
another player, because only the last trick gathered can be seen. 

If a player makes a build without the proper card in his hand to 
win it, on discovery of the error, the combination must be broken 
up, and the adversaries may take back the cards they have played 
in following the erroneous build, and may amend their play. If, 
however, another placer has won the erroneous build, there is no 
penalty, nor any remedy. 

Showing. After the last card has been played, each player 
counts his cards face downward, and announces the number. The 
player having the majority scores the three points for cards. If it 
is a tie, neither scores. The cards are then turned face up, and 
the spades counted and claimed ; and then all the points for Cas- 
sinos and Aces. It should be remembered that the total number 
of points to be made in each hand, exclusive of sweeps, is eleven, 
and the total of the claims made must agree with that number. 

Scoring. There are several methods of scoring. The old 
way was to play 1 1 points up, deducting the lower score from the 
higher at the end of each deal. If one side reached n before the 
adversary reached 6, it was a lurch, and counted as a double 
game. The common method is to count every hand a game, and 
settle tor it in counters. 



(Cassino.) 361 

TWENTY-ONE POINT CASSINO. 

This game is usually marked with counters, or pegged on a crib- 
bage board. Nothing is Scored until the end of the hand, when 
each side reckons and claims its points. In order to avoid disputes 
there should be a previous understanding as to what points go out 
first in a close game. In the absence of any agreement to the 
contrary, the points count out in the following order : — Cards first, 
then Spades, Big Cassino, Little Cassino, Aces, and Sweeps. If 
the Aces have -to decide it, the spade Ace goes out first, then clubs, 
hearts, and diamonds. If the sweeps have to decide it, only the 
difference in the number of sweeps counts, andjf there is none, or 
not enough, the game is not ended, and another deal must be 
played. 

It is better to agree to count out in twenty-one point Cassino ; 
each player keeping mental count of the number of cards and 
spades he has taken in, together with any "natural " points. The 
moment he reaches 21 he should claim the game, and if his claim 
is correct he wins, even if his adversary has 21 or more. If he is 
mistaken, and cannot show out, he loses the game, no matter 
what his adversary's score may be. If neither claims out, and 
both are found to be, neither wins, and the game must be continued 
to 32 points, and so on, eleven points more each time until one 
player claims to have won the game. 

Suggestions for Good JPlay. The principal thing in Cas- 
sino is to remember what has been played especially in the count- 
ing and high cards, such as Aces, Eights, Nines, and Tens. In 
making pairs and combinations, give preference to those contain- 
ing spades, and if you have to trail, do not play a spade if you can 
help it. If three Aces have been taken in, play the fourth, if you 
hold it, at the first opportunity, because it cannot be paired ; but if 
there is another Ace to come, keep yours until you can make a 
good build with it. As between cards which were on the table 
and those trailed by an adversary, take in those trailed if you have 
a choice. Take in the adversary's build in preference to your own, 
if you can, and build on his build at every opportunity. If Big 
Cassino is still to come, avoid trailing cards that will make a Ten 
with those on the table. Go for " cards " in preference to every- 
thing else, and always make combinations that take in as many 
cards as possible. If you have a Nine, and the cards on the table 
are 2257, take in the 2 2 5, in preference to the 2 7. It is con- 
sidered bad policy to take in three court cards, as it stops all 
sweeps when the fourth appears. 



362 (Cassino.) 

ROYAL CASSINO. 

The only difference in this form of the game is that the three 
court cards, K Q J, have a pip value, and may be used in com- 
bining and building, whereas in the ordinary game they can be 
used only in pairs. The Jack is worth n, the Queen 12, and the 
King 13 ; so that a 9 and 2 can be taken in with a Jack, or a 6 4 
and 3 with a King. In the same manner a Queen will win a Jack 
and Ace, or a King will win a Jack and deuce. The aces are 
sometimes valued at 14 each. 



SPADE CASSINO. 

In this interesting variation eyery spade counts one point toward 
game. The spade Jack counts one in addition to its being a 
spade, and the extra point so made takes the place of the count 
for " spades " in the ordinary game, so that 24 points are made in 
every hand, exclusive of sweeps : Cards 3 ; Big Cassino 2 ; Little 
Cassino 1 ; the four Aces 4; the spade Jack 1, and 13 spades. 
It must be remembered that the spade Jack and deuce count 2 
points each, the extra point being for the spade. 

The game is scored on a cribbage board, every point being 
pegged immediately; that 4s, every spade, every Ace, the Cassinos 
and the sweeps. There is nothing to count at the end of the hand 
but the cards. Sixty-one points is game, once round the board 
and into the game hole. 



DRAW CASSINO- 

In this variation, no more cards are dealt after the first round, 
but each player keeps his hand filled to four cards by drawing one 
from the top of the stock as soon as he plays one from his hand. 
The stock is left on the table, face down, slightly spread, for con- 
venience in slipping off the top card as it is drawn. 






(Conquian.) 863 

CONQUIAN. 

The etymology of this word is Spanish ; con quiin, t% with whom," 
but of the g£me it stands for, little or nothing is known except that 
it is a great favorite in Mexico, and in all the American States bor- 
dering upon it, especially Texas. It is an excellent game for two 
players, quite different from any other in its principles, and requir- 
ing very close attention and a good memory to play it well. In its 
finer points, especially in the judgment of what the adversary holds 
or is playing for, it ranks with our best games, and will probably 
grow in popularity as it becomes better known. 

Cards* Conquian is played with the Spanish pack, forty cards, 
the 8 9 10 of each suit being deleted. In America, it is much 
more common to play with a pack of forty cards from which the 
three court cards, K Q J, have been discarded, leaving each suit 
an unbroken sequence from the Ace to the Ten. Some persons 
play with the full pack, but it spoils the game ; as it is then possi- 
ble to win on a sequence of a single suit. There are no trumps, 
and the cards have no value as to rank, a sequence of 6 7 J being 
no better than one of 2 3 4. The Ace is not in sequence with the 
King. 

Counters, Each player should be supplied with at least ten 
counters, which may be used in settling at the end of each deal. 

Players. Conquian is played by two persons, one of whom is 
known as the dealer, and the other as the pone. If there are three 
at the table, the dealer takes no cards, and has no part in the 
game for that hand. h : ut 

Cutting. Seats and deal are cut for, the lowest cut having the 
choice," and dealing the first hand. The Ace is low, the King 1 
high. 

Stakes, Each deal is a game in itself, and the loser pays one 
counter for it. If thejgame is a tie, called a tableau, each puts up 
a counter for a pool, and the winner of the next game takes the 
pool, in addition to the counter paid by his adversary. If the next 
game is also a tableau, each player adds another counter to the 
pool, and so on until it is won. 

Dealing, Ten cards are dealt to each player in five rounds of 
two at a time, and the twenty remaining in the stock are laid upon 
the table face down, between the players, but a little to the left of 
the dealer. The stock may be slightly spread, to facilitate the 
process of drawing cards from it. 

Objects of the Game, The object of each player is to form 
triplets, fours, and sequences, by combining the cards dealt him 
with others drawn from the stock. These combinations are laid 
upon the table, face up, and the player wins the game who first 
succeeds in laying down eleven cards' in this manner. 



364 (Conquian.) PLAYING, 

Sequences must be all of the same suit, and cannot be shorter 
than three cards. The Ace is not in sequence with the King, 
but the 7 is next below the Jack. A sequence once started can be 
added to from time to time as the cards are drawn from the stock, 

Triplets are any three cards of the same denomination, and 
they may be increased to Fours at any time, by adding the other 
card. 

Sorrowing, A player with four of a kind on the table may 
borrow any one of the four to use in a sequence ; but he cannot 
borrow one of three, because no combination may consist of less 
than three cards. In the same manner a player may borrow the 
card at either end of a sequence of at least four cards, if he can 
use it to make a triplet. He cannot borrow an intermediate card, 
nor one of a sequence of three cards only, because three cards 
•must be left to maintain the sequence, but if he had a sequence of 
at least five cards on the table, he might borrow the top of it to 
make one triplet, and then the next card to make another triplet. 

Method of Playing, The cards dealt, each player sorts his 
hand into sequences and triplets, and determines what cards he 
wants to complete his runs, so that he may be on the lookout for 
them. The pone then draws the top card from the stock and 
turns it face up on the pack. If this card can be used in combi- 
nation with any of those in his hand, he draws it over to his side 
of the table, and takes from his hand the cards completing the 
combination of three cards, leaving them all face up. Even if he 
has cards enough in his hand to increase the combination to four 
or more cards, he should not show them. The cards drawn from 
the stock must never be taken into the hand. 

Let us suppose the pone holds these cards : — V J764;*532; 
K 7 5 ; and that the V $ is the first card he draws. He can use 
this card in three ways : By making a run of three with the <? 4 
and 9 6 ; or a run with the W 6 and 9? 7 ; or a triplet with the 
two other 5's. In this case he would probably layout the 6 arid 7, 
and make the run of three. If he should draw the V Q later on, 
he could use it by continuing the sequence with his Jack ; or if 
the <? 3 appeared, he could use it with his y 4. 

Passing, If he cannot use the card drawn, or does not wish 
to, he draws it from its position on the top of the stock and places 
it between himself and the dealer, still face up. The dealer then 
decides whether or not he wants it, and if he does not he 
'* passes " it by turning it face down, and pushing it to his right. 
Cards once passed in this manner cannot again be seen by either 
player. The playsr who passes the card turns up the next one on 
the stock. If he does not want it, he places it on the table be- 
tween himself and his adversary, and if his adversary does not 
want it either, he turns it down and passes it to the pile of dead- 
wood, turning up the top card of the stock again. In this manner 



FORCING. (Conquian.) 365 

it will be seen that each player has to decide on two cards in suc- 
cession ; the one drawn but not used by his adversary, and the 
one he draws himself. This is continued until the stock is ex- 
hausted, which ends the game. 

Discarding. If a player uses any card drawn from the stock 
in this manner, it is obvious that he has too many cards, and in 
order to reduce his hand and show-downs to ten cards, he must 
discard something, unless he can show down everything remain- 
ing in his hand, in which case he would have eleven cards down, 
and win the game. In discarding, the card thrown out is placed 
at the disposal of the adversary, as if it were the card drawn from 
the stock, and if the adversary does not want it, he passes it and 
draws another. It should be observed that the player drawing the 
card from the stock always has the first refusal of it. This is 
sometimes very important, as both players often need the same 
card. 

In the foregoing example, the player's best discard would be his 
K, which is too far removed from the others in the suit to make 
a run possible, and there is no mate to it with which to start a 
triplet. If the adversary could use this King, he would have to 
discard in his turn, and the card so thrown out would be at the 
disposal of the other player, just as if it had been drawn from the 
stock. 

Forcing. A player need not use any card drawn, but if he 
has upon the table any combination in which it can be used, his 
adversary may force him with it, even after it has been declined. 
For instance : A player has eight cards down, two sequences of 
four small cards each, and in his hand a pair of Kings. Another 
'King will make him game ; but if he has to depend on his se- 
quences to put him out, he will have to get three more cards. 
Suppose he draws a card that will fit one of his sequences ; it is 
to his advantage to pass it ; but upon laying it on the table bis 
adversary may take it up and force him with it, by placing it at 
the end of his sequence, at the same time saying : " Discard." In 
the same manner a player holding one of the cards of his adver- 
sary's show-down sequence or triplet may force after using a card, 
by placing his discard on his adversary's sequence, instead of lay- 
ing it on the table. If it is laid on the table, the adversary may 
pass it at once, by turning it down, and it is then too late to com- 
pel him to use it. Suppose you think your adversary holds two 
cards of an unplayed sequence, and has a triplet on the table. If 
you can use one of those sequence cards in his hand to advantage, 
and can force him by giving him the fourth card of his triplet, 
which is of no use to you, you should do so ; but you must re- 
member that you cannot force except after using a card yourself, 



366 (Conquian.) GOOD PLAY. 

because you are not allowed to discard under any other circum- 
stances. 

If a player looks at any of the cards that have been passed and 
turned down, his adversary may take up and examine the re- 
mainder of the stock, but without disturbing the position of the 
cards therein, and without showing them. If a player looks at any 
of the cards in the stock except the one he draws, his adversary 
may look at all of them. If a player draws out of turn, his ad- 
versary simply claims the card. 

Showing. After the last card is drawn from the stock and 
passed, each player shows the remainder of his hand, and as 
neither can combine his cards so as to get eleven down, it is a 
tableau, and each puts a counter in the pool for the next hand. 
The deal passes from one player to the other in rotation as long 
as they continue to play. 

Suggestions for Good JPlay, Observation of the cards 
passed will usually show what the adversary is keeping, and what 
he has no chance for. Toward the end of the stock each player 
should know what the other holds in his hand by the cards which 
have not appeared in the drawing. If a player has not a good 
chance to get eleven down himself, he should play for a tableau, 
by using nothing that will compel him to discard cards which may 
put his adversary out. It should be remembered that a player 
cannot get eleven down in one suit, and careful observation of the 
cards passed will often show that his runs are blocked, the cards 
necessary to continue them having been turned down. 

One peculiar feature of the game is that a player cannot block 
his adversary and at the same time win the game, because so long 
as he holds up the card that his adversary wants he cannot get . 
eleven down himself. His only chance is that he may be able to 
use the card that his adversary needs. For instance : He holds 
two 8's, one of which will make his adversary eleven down by 
completing a sequence. If there is another 8 to come, the player 
with the pair may use both his 8's, and win; but if there is no 
other 8 to come, it is impossible for the player with the two 8's to 
win without first putting his adversary out. 

There are no Text Books on Conquian, and this is the first 
complete description of it ever published. 



(Vint.) 367 

VINT. 

While this game is by some persons thought to be the fore- 
runner of bridge, and might be classed as one of the whist family, 
it is at present so little known outside of Russia, where it is the 
national game, that the author has thought it best to group it with 
other games which are distinctly national in character. 

Vint has been variously described as bridge without a Dummy 
and as auction whist. It resembles bridge in the making of the 
trump, and whist in the manner of the play. 

Cards, Vint is played with the full pack of fifty-two cards, 
which rank from the AKQ down to the deuce. Two packs are 
generally used. 

Players, A table is complete with four players, and if there 
are more than four candidates for play the selection must be made 
by cutting. All the rules for formation of tables, cutting, ties, etc., 
are the same as at bridge. The lowest cut takes the deal. Part- 
ners sit opposite each other. 

Dealing, The dealer presents the pack to be cut, and then 
gives thirteen cards to each player, one at a time. No trump is 
turned. The deal passes to the left. All irregularities are gov- 
erned by the same laws as bridge. 

Making the trump. Each player in turn, beginning with 
the dealer, bids to make a certain number of tricks, from seven to 
thirteen, with a suit of his own choosing, which he names when he 
makes his bid. The suits outrank one another in the order of 
hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades, hearts being the best. No- 
trumps are higher than hearts. A bid of seven tricks is usually 
called "one" in hearts, or whatever the suit may be. A bid of 
" two " means to win eight tricks, or two over the book. 

Bidding. If a player wishes to go over the first offer made, 
he must either bid the same number of tricks in a better suit, or he 
must increase the number of tricks. No player can increase his 
own bid unless he is overbid in the interval, but there is no limit to 
the number of times that players may outbid one another. Observe 
that the dealer may bid or pass, and each player after him in turn 
may bid or pass. The highest bidder must abide by his announce- 
ment both as to the number of tricks and the suit. 

The Play, No matter who dealt the cards, the player to the 
left of the highest bidder always leads for the first trick. Each 
player in turn must follow suit if he can, and the highest card 
played, if of the suit led, wins the trick, trumps winning all other 
suits. The winner of one trick leads for the next, and so on. There 
is no Dummy hand as in bridge. 



368 (Vint) VINT. 

Scoring, Although the bidding is for so many "odd" tricks, 
or tricks over the book, every trick taken is counted when it comes 
to the scoring; but it is the number of tricks bid, and not the rank 
of the suit, that determines the value. Every trick ~»n by the 
same partners — 

In a bid of " one ' is worth 10 

In a bid of " two " is worth 20 

In a bid of " three" is worth 30 

In a bid of "four" is worth 40 

In a bid of " five '' is worth 50 

In a bid of " six" is worth 60 

In a bid of "seven" is worth 70 

Both sides score. If the highest bid was " two in diamonds," 
and the bidder's side won nine tricks, they would score 9 times 20, 
or 180; while their adversaries would score 4 times 20, or 80. 

As soon as either side reaches 500, they win the game, even if it 
is in the middle of a hand ; but the hand must be played out in 
order to see how many points are won by each side. It should be 
observed that although the bidder's side may make nine or ten 
tricks the adversaries can win the game if they get enough to count 
out before the bidder, by reaching 500 first. 

Tricks and Honours, The score for tricks and for honours 
must be kept separate, usually above and below the line, as at 
bridge. All trick points, which are the only ones that count toward 
game, are placed below the line ; the honour points above. 

For winning a game, 1,000 points are added in the honour col- 
umn. The side that first wins two games of 500 points each adds 
2,000 rubber points in the honour column. 

Slams, If a little slam, 12 tricks, is made, but has not been 
bid, it is worth 1,000 points in honours. If a little slam, "six 
tricks," has been bid and is made, it is worth 5,000 more for bid- 
ding it, or 6,000 altogether. If a grand slam, 13 tricks, is made but 
not bid, it is worth 2,000 honour points. If a little slam is bid and 
a grand slam made, it is worth 7,000 altogether. If a gra^d slam is 
bid and made, it is worth 12,000 altogether. 

Lost Games, If the bidder fails to make good, his adversaries 
score 100 times the value of the tricks as penalty, in the honour 
column ; the scores for the tricks actually won standing at their 
regular value below the line. Suppose the bid to be three in dia- 
monds, making the tricks worth 30 each, and that the bidder's side 
get the odd trick only. Although the bidder has failed to make 
good, he scores below the line for the seven tricks he took, at 30 
each, and the adversaries score for the six they took, also at 30 
each. Then, as the bidder fell short by two tricks of making good, 
his adversaries score these two tricks at 3,000 points each, penalty, 
in the honour column. 



VINT. (Vint.) 369 

Honours. The honours are the A K Q J 10 of trumps and 
the four Aces, the Aces being always honours ; but when there is 
a no-trump declaration they are the only honours. This makes the 
Ace of trumps count double, when there is a trump suit ; once as 
one of the five honours in trumps, and once as an Ace. 

Each honour is worth ten times as much as a trick. If the bid 
was three in clubs, the tricks would be worth 30 each and the hon- 
ours 300 each. The side that has the majority of Aces and of 
honours scores for all they hold ; not for the majority or differ- 
ence. Suppose the bidder's side has three honours in clubs and 
three Aces ; the other side must have only two honours and one 
Ace ; therefore the bidder scores for six honours, at 300 each. 

If the Aces and honours in trumps are so divided that each side 
has a majority of one or the other, they offset. Suppose the bidder 
to hold four Aces and two honours. The adversaries must have 
the majority of trump honours. Then the number of their trump 
honours, which is three, is deducted from the number of the bid- 
der's Aces, four, leaving the bidder's side only one honour to the 
good. Three honours on one side and three Aces on the other 
would be a tie, and no honours to score. 

If the Aces are a tie, the side that wins the most tricks scores 
them. Suppose the bidder has three honours and two Aces. He . 
scores five honours if he wins the odd trick ; otherwise he scores 
one only, the Aces being a tie and he having only one more honour 
than his adversaries. 

In no-trump hands, the honours are worth 25 times the value of 
the tricks. If Aces are easy, neither side scores. If one has three 
Aces, they are all scored. Suppose the bid to have been "two at 
no-trumps," then the Aces are worth 25 times 20, and three of them 
are worth 1,500 points. 

Coronets. A sequence of three or more cards in any suit, 
trumps or plain, held by an individual player, is a coronet. Three 
or four Aces in one hand is also a coronet. When there is a trump 
suit, three Aces, or three of a plain suit in sequence, are worth 500 
in the honour column. Each additional card is worth 500 points 
more. A sequence of K Q J 10 9 would be worth 1,500. In the 
trump suit, and in all the suits when there are no trumps, these 
coronets are worth double, and each additional card is therefore 
worth 1,000 more. 

Rubbers. As soon as one side wins two games, that ends the 
first rubber. The partners then change, without cutting, in such a 
manner that at the end of three rubbers each player shall have had 
each of the others for a partner. At the end of the third rubber, 
the losses and gains are ascertained for each individual, and settled 
for. * 

Laws. The laws that govern the game are almost identical 
with those for Bridge. 



370 (Preference.) PREFERENCE. 



PREFERENCE, 

This is a simplified form of Vint, for three players, with a thirty, 
two-card pack. The cards rank : AKQ J.10.987, and the suits 
rank: Hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades. Hearts are always 
preference. There are no hands played without a trump suit. 

If four persons play, the dealer takes no cards. The three active 
players make up a pool, each putting in an equal amount at first, 
and the bidder putting into it as many as he bids for the privilege 
of naming the trump suit. 

Any one may deal the first hand, after which the deal passes to 
the left. Three cards are given to each player the first round, then 
two are laid off for a widow, then four to each player, and then 
three to each. Beginning on the dealer's left, each player in turn 
may name the trump if he thinks he can take at least six of the ten 
tricks to be played for. Bids outrank one another in the order of 
the suits, hearts being preference always. The number of tricks is 
not mentioned. In case there are no bids, each in turn has a sec- 
ond chance to bid for the widow. These bids are made in count- 
ers, to be put into the pool. The highest bidder takes the widow, 
lays out two cards, and then names the trump suit. 

The players agree upon a value for the tricks won, and payments 
are made from the pool accordingly. These payments may vary 
according to the rank of the trump suit. 



(Odd Games.) 371 



ODD GAMES. 



There are quite a number of odd games of cards, which come 
and go as favourites from time to time, and pass round the world 
from one country to another under many different names. The 
origin of most of these games is lost in the weedy undergrowth of 
variations, but the chief family trait in some of them can be traced 
back to the alpha of cards. 

Among the oldest of games was Ombre, immortalised by Pope, 
the only survivor of which is a variation played by the older Ger- 
mans, under the name of Solo ; a game which still faintly resists 
the exterminating influence of Skat. The ancient and honourable 
games of Comete, Hoc, and Nain Jaune survive to the present day 
in a large and prosperous family, ranging from Commit to Fan Tan, 
the latter being to-day quite a favourite among those who like sim- 
ple and amusing games, free from mental effort. Fan Tan is un- 
fortunately named, as many persons confuse it with the Chinese 
banking game, and it would be much better under its older name, 
Play or Pay. 

Among the many games of which everyone has heard, and which 
many thousands have been advised to play, is one which, strange 
to say, is not to be found described in any work on card games, 
and that is Old Maid. There was a time when the result of this 
game was supposed to be final and conclusive, and parties of 
young men have been known to substitute a Jack or King for the 
discarded Queen, in order to learn what the future had in store for 
them. Under such circumstances the game became Old Bache- 
lor, of course. 

For those who believe in the verdict of the cards, there are 
Other sources of information. Fortune telling, whether for the 
purpose of amusement or self-deception, has undoubtedly inter- 
ested many persons in all stations of life ever since Eittella first 
explained the art, away back in the sixteenth century. The mean- 
ings attached to the cards individually, and the manner of their 
arrangement, is all that can be given in a work of this kind. The 
qualifications for, success in foretelling the future do not depend 
so much on the cards as on good judgment of human nature, un- 
limited assurance, a glib tongue, and a certain amount of ingenu- 



372 (Solo.) ODD GAMES. 

ity in making a connected story out of the disjointed sentences 
formed by the chance arrangement of certain cards, to which an 
arbitrary or fanciful meaning is attached. 

Speculation is considered by some persons an excellent training 
school for the commercial instincts of the younger members of a 
family, teaching them to form correct estimates as to the value of 
certain articles offered for sale in a fluctuating market. Authors 
is a very good game for the family circle, and does not require 
special cards, the ordinary pack being easily adapted to the dis- 
tinctions of the game. 

Patience, or Solitaire, has probably claimed the attention of every 
card-player at some time or other, and one cannot fail to be im- 
pressed by the number and ingenuity of the patience games which 
have been invented. One of the most expensive works on cards 
ever published is devoted exclusively to Solitaire. 

Among all these odd games one should be able to find some- 
thing to amuse all sorts and conditions of card-players. The only 
apparatus required in any of them is a pack of cards and a few 
counters, and for the latter corn or coffee-beans will form an excel- 
lent substitute. 



SOLO. 

Under the name of Solo, the Germans play a great many varia- 
tions of card games, of which the following is the best known. 

Cards. Solo is played with a pack of thirty-two cards, which 
rank A K Q J 10 9 8 7. One suit is always first preference, or 
colour, and the suit usually selected is clubs. Any suit may be 
made the trump, but whatever the suit, the club Queen, SpadUla, 
is always the best trump ; the Seven of the trump suit, Manilla, 
is always the second-best trump ; and the spade Queen, Basta, 
is always the third-best trump. 

Players. Solo is played by four persons, who throw round 
the cards for the first club turned up to deal eight cards to each 
player ; 3-2-3 at a time. 

Objects. The object of the game is to secure the privilege of 
naming the trump suit, and of playing, either alone or with a part- 
ner, to make five tricks, solo, or eight tricks, tout. If a partner 
is required, he is selected by the player asking for a certain ace, 
but the holder of the ace remains unknown until the ace falls, 
although from the first he must assist the player who has asked for 
it. If a player asks for an ace while holding it himself, he of 
course plays without a partner, unknown to the others however, 
until he plays the ace asked for. 



HEART SOLO. (Solo.) 373 

Bidding, The players bid against one another for the privi- 
lege of naming the trump suit, eldest hand having the first say. 
When no one will bid any higher, the player who has made the 
best offer names the game he wishes to play, with or without a 
partner. 

Games. The rank of the various games, the amounts bid on 
them, and the payments made for them, are as follows : — 

Simple in suit, 2 ; in colour, 4. 

Forcee or Solo in suit, 4 ; in colour, 8. 

Tout in Suit, 16 ; in colour, 32. 

Simple Game is to play for five tricks with a partner holding 
a designated ace. If the trump is clubs, (in colour,) it is worth 
double, 4 counters. 

Solo is five tricks without a partner. With clubs trumps it 
pays double, 8 counters. 

Tout is eight tricks, with or without a partner. If alone, the 
single player wins or loses all ; if with a partner he must share his 
gains or losses. 

Forcee is when no bid is made, and any player holds both 
Spadilla and Basta. He must play a Solo, or call for an ace. If 
he calls, the player holding the ace names the trump suit; but the 
suit so named must not be the suit of the called ace. Forcee in 
clubs is worth double, 8 counters. 

Playing. The trump named, the eldest hand leads any card 
he pleases, and the others must follow suit if they can. The high- 
est card played, if of the suit led, wins the trick, and trumps win 
all other suits. The hands are abandoned as soon as the bidder 
takes five tricks, if he is playing anything but a tout. If he goes 
on he must win all eight tricky, or lose the value of a tout. 

Payments. A solo player wins from or loses to each of his 
adversaries individually the amount of the game in counters. Two 
partners pay or receive each from one adversary. 

HEART SOLO is a game for three players, in which the 
pack is reduced to twenty-four cards by deleting the Eight of 
hearts, and all the'diamonds but the Seven. Diamonds are always 
colour, and there are only three trumps in that suit ; Spadilla, 
Manilla, and Basta. The only play is for the Solo, and if no one 
will make a bid, the hands are played in colour, and the winner of 
the last trick loses the value of a Solo. 



374 (Stops.) 

NEWMARKET, 

OR STOPS. 

This game, which is sometimes called Boodle, is Pope Joan 
without the pope. The four cards forming the layout are the 
9 A, * K, Q, * J ; but there is no 7- The dealer names any 
number of counters that he is willing to stake, which must be at 
least four, and each player at the table must stake a similar 
amount. The counters are placed on the layout to suit the players, 
either all upon one card, or distributed among the four. The 
cards are dealt as at Pope Joan, and the same number must be 
left in the talon. 

Instead of the player being at liberty to begin a sequence with 
any card he pleases, he must begin with the lowest card in his 
hand of the suit which he se]ects. He is not restricted as to suit, 
but must play all he has in sequence, and then name the card that 
he fails on. If a new sequence is opened by any player, he must 
play the lowest card of the suit in his hand. 

If, in the course of play, any of the four cards on the layout can 
be got rid of, the player holding them takes the pool on that card. 
If he is left with the card in his hand at the end he is not obliged 
to double the pool, as at Pope Joan, but simply loses his chance to 
win it, and it remains until the next deal. The first player to get 
rid of all his cards receives one counter from the other players for 
each card they hold. 

SPIN is Newmarket, with one variation. The player holding 
the diamond ace is allowed to play it in order to get the privilege 
of stopping one suit and opening another. For instance : The 
sequence in spades has run to the Nine, and one player holds 
both spade Ten and diamond ace. If this player saw that another 
was very likely to win the game at any moment, and he had a pool 
card to play, he might stop the spade sequence by playing both 
the Ten and the diamond ace together, announcing Spin, He 
can then play a pool card, or begin a new sequence with the low- 
est of the suit in his hand. He cannot play the diamond ace 
unless he can play to the sequence first. 

SARATOGA. This varies from Newmarket only in the 
method of making up the pool. Instead of leaving the players to 
distribute their stakes at pleasure, each is compelled to place an 
agreed amount on each of the pool cards, as at Pope Joan. 



FAN TAN. 

This is the simplest form of Stops, and requires no layout. 
Any number of players can take part, and a full pack of fifty-two 
cards is used. The players cut for deal and seats, low having the 
choice. Ace is low. The players are provided with an equaL 



FAN TAN. (Solitaire.) 375 

number of counters, and before the cards are dealt, each places an 
agreed number in the pool. All the cards are dealt out. If some 
have more than others it does not matter. 

The eldest hand begins by playing any card he pleases, and the 
next player on his left must either play the card next above it, or 
put one counter in the pool. Only one card is played at a time, 
and after the sequence has arrived at the King it must be contin- 
ued with the ace, and go on until the suit is exhausted". The 
person who plays the thirteenth card of any suit must start 
another sequence, in any suit and with any card he pleases. The 
player who first gets rid of all his cards takes the pool. 

The great trick in this game is to provide for the last suit to be 
played, and in order to have the selection of the second suit it is 
usual for the eldest hand to begin with the higher of two cards 
next in value to each other, which will make him the last player in 
that suit. Each suit is turned face down as it is exhausted. 



SOLITAIRE. 

All games of Solitaire are played with the full pack of fifty-two 
cards. The games may be roughly divided into two classes; 
those in which the result is entirely dependent on chance, and can- 
not be changed by the player after the cards have been shuffled 
and cut ; and those which present opportunities for judgment and 
skill, the choice of several ways to the same end being offered to 
the player at various stages of the game. The first class is of 
course the simplest, but the least satisfactory, as it is nothing more 
than a game of chance. 

Of the many hundreds of patience games,- it is possible to give 
only a few of the best known. 

TAKE TEN. Shuffle and cut the cards, and deal out thir- 
teen face upward in two rows of five each, and one row of three. 
Any two cards, the pip value of which equals 10, may be with- 
drawn from the tableau, and others dealt from the top of the pack 
in their places. Only two cards may be used to form a 10. The 
K Q J 10 of each suit must be lifted together, none of these cards 
being touched until all four of the same suit are on the table 
together. When no cards can be lifted, the game is lost. 

The object in most patience games is to arrange the cards in 
sequences. An ascending sequence is one in which the cards run 
from A 2 3 up to the King ; and a descending sequence is one in 
which they.run down to th,e ace. Sequences may be formed of one 
suit or of mixed suits, according to the rules of the game. 



376 (Solitaire.) THE CARPET. 

THE CABFET. Shuffle and cut the pack. Deal out 
twenty cards in four rows of five cards each, face up. This is the 
carpet. Any aces found in it are taken out and used to form a fifth 
row, either at the bottom or the side. The holes made in the 
carpet by removing the aces are then filled up from the pack. 
Cards are then taken from the carpet to build upon the aces in 
ascending sequence, following suit, and the holes in the carpet are 
continually filled up with fresh cards from the top of the pack. 
As other aces appear they are laid aside to start the sequence in 
the suit to which they belong. When you are stopped, deal the 
cards remaining in the pack in a pile on the table by themselves, 
face upward. If any card appears which can be used in the 
ascending sequences, take it, and if this enables you to make more 
holes in the carpet, do so. But after having been driven to deal 
this extra pile, holes in the carpet can no longer be filled from the 
pack ; they must be patched up with the top cards on the extra 
pile until it is exhausted. 

FOUB OF A KIND. Shuffle and cut the pack, then deal 
out thirteen cards face down in two rows of five each and one row 
of three. Deal on the top of these until the pack is exhausted, 
which will give you four cards in each pile, face down. Imagine 
that these piles represent respectively the A 2 3 4 5 in the first 
row ; the 6 7 8 9 10 in the second, and the J Q K in the third. 
Take the top card from the ace pile, turn it face upward, and 
place it, still face upward, under the pile to which it belongs. If 
it is a Jack, for instance, it will go face up under the first pile in ■ 
the third row. Then take the top card from the second pile, and 
so on, keeping the left hand as a marker on the pile last drawn 
from. When you come to a pile which is complete, all the cards 
being face up, you can skip it, and go on to the next. If at the 
end you find that the last card to be turned up lies on its proper 
pile, and needs turning over only, you win ; but if you have to 
remove it to another pile, you lose. 

THY AGAIN. Shuffle and cut the pack, and deal the cards 
face upward into four heaps. You are not obliged to deal to each 
pile in succession, but may place the cards on any of the four 
piles, according to your judgment or pleasure. In dealing out in 
this manner it is not good policy to cover one card with a higher, 
unless you are compelled to do so. Every time you come to an 
ace, separate it from the others, placing it in a new row, as a 
foundation for an ascending sequence, which may be continued 
regardless of the suit of the cards used. The top cards of the 
four piles are used to build up the sequence. After an ace has 
appeared, the player may examine the cards in any or all of the 
piles, but their order must not be disturbed. The object in look- 
ing at the cards is to select the pile wfeich is least likely to stop 
you, or the one having the fewest cards in it. 



SOLITAIRE, (Klondike.) 377 

TAKE FOURTEEN. Shuffle and cut the pack, and deal 
the cards one at a time, face upward, into twelve piles, and con- 
tinue dealing on the top of these twelve until the pack is exhausted, 
This will give you four piles which contain one card more than 
the others. Then take off any two of the top cards which will 
make 14, reckoning the Jack as 11, the Queen as 12 and the King 
as 13, all the others at their face value. Only two cards must be 
used to make 14. If you succeed in taking off all the cards in 
this manner, yon win. You are at liberty to look at the under- 
neath cards in the various piles, but you must not disturb their 
positions. 

HELP YOUR NEIGHBOUR. Take from the pack the 
four aces, and lay them face upward on the table in a row. These 
are to be built upon in ascending sequences, following suit. Shuffle 
and cut the remaining forty-eight cards, and deal off four starters 
in a row, below the aces. These cards are to be built down on, 
in descending sequence, regardless of suit. The remainder of the 
pack is then taken in the left hand, and the cards turned up one 
by one from the top. Any card which can be used to build up on 
the ace row, or down on the second row, is placed on its proper 
pile at once. If the card is unavailable for either purpose, it must 
be placed in a separate and ninth pile, known as the talon, or 
deadwood. The ascending sequences may be built up from any 
of the three sources ; cards from the top of the pack, those on the 
top of the various descending sequences, or those on the top of 
the deadwood. 

The top card in any descending sequence may be moved from 
one pile to another, or a card may be taken from an ascending 
sequence and placed on a descending, always provided that such 
a card continues the sequence in the pile to which it is removed. 
If any of the piles occupied by the descending sequences are ex- 
hausted, new cards may be placed there at any time the player 
thinks fit. Such new piles may be started from the pack, from 
the deadwood, or from any other pile. 



KLONDIKE. 



This game is sometimes mistakenly called "Canfield", but that 
is a distinct game, described elsewhere, in which there are 
separate piles for stock and foundations. 

Shuffle the full pack of fifty-two cards, cut and turn up the top 
card. Lay six more cards in a row to the right of the first card, 
but all face down. Upon the second card of this row place another 



378 (Klondike,) KLONDIKE. 

card face up, and then cards face down on the remaining five of the 
top row. On the third pile from the left, place another card 
face up, and then four more face down to the right. Continue this 
until you have seven cards face up, which will give you twenty- 
eight cards in your layout. 

Take out any aces showing, and place them in a row by them- 
selves for "foundations." Build up on these aces in sequence 
and suit to kings. On the layout, build in descending sequence, 
red on black, black on red, turning up the top card when any pile 
is left without a faced card upon it. If there is more than one card 
face up on any pile, they must be removed together or not at all. 
Spaces may be filled only with kings. 

The stock is run off three cards at a time, and any card showing 
can be used. The pack can be run through in this manner until 
no cards showing can be used, but there must be no shuffling or re- 
arrangement of the cards. Sometimes it is the rule to run through 
the pack once only, turning up one card at a time. 

The object of the game is to see how many cards can be built on 
the ace row. A better average can usually be obtained when the 
pack is run off three at a time with the privilege of running through 
again and again as long as any card can be used. 



FORTUNE TELLING. 

Whatever the arrangement employed for laying out the tableau 
in fortune telling, the result of the reading will always be depend- 
ent on the person's ability to string together in a connected story 
the meanings which are attached to the various cards. According 
to Eittella, the father of all fortune telling, only 32 cards should be 
used, and it is essential that they should be single heads, because 
a court card standing firmly on its feet is a very different thing 
from one standing on its head. If single-head cards are not at 
hand, the lower part of the double-head cards must be cancelled 
in some manner. 

The following are the interpretations of the various cards, the 
initial M meaning that the card is reversed, or standing on its 
head. 

HEAHTS. Ace. The house, or home. 

King. A benefactor. JR. He will not be able to do you mud 
good, although he means well. 

Queen. Everything that is lovely in woman. JR. You will 
have to wait awhile for the realization of your hopes. 



MEANINGS OF CARDS. (Fortunes.) 379 

Jack. A person who may be useful to you. 22. He will not 
prove of much account. 
Ten. A pleasant surprise. 
Nine. Reconciliation. 
Eight. Children. 
Seven. A good marriage. It, Fair to middling. 

CLUBS, Ace. Profits from business or gambling. 

King. A just man, who has taken a fancy to you. M, Some- 
thing will interfere with his good intentions. 

Queen. Your best girl. It, She is jealous. 

Jack. A probable marriage. jB. It may have to be post- 
poned. 

Ten. Success in business. If followed by 9» the note will not 
be paid when it is due ; if followed by the ♦ 9 you will lose the en- 
tire account. 

Nine. Success in love,. 

Eight. Great anticipations. 

Seven. Trifling love affairs. .R« They will get you into 
trouble. 

DIAMONDS, Ace. A letter, or a written notice. 
King. A person to beware of. It, Will annoy you in any case. 
Queen. A shrew or gossip. It, She will make you tired. 
Jack. A bearer of bad news. M, Worse than you expected. 
Ten. An unexpected journey. 
Nine. That expected money will not come to hand. 
Eight. Some surprising actions on the part of a young man. 
Seven. Success in lotteries, gambling or speculation. B, The 
amount will be very small. *//> 

SPADES. Ace. Love affairs. 

King. Police or sheriffs. It. Loss of a lawsuit. 

Queen. A gay and deceptive widow. jB. She's fooling thee. 

Jack. Disagreeable young man. It, He will do you an in- 
jury or injustice of some kind. 

Ten. Prison. 

Nine. Vexatious delays in business matters. 

Eight. Bad news. If followed by the 7. quarrels. 

Seven. Quarrels which will be lasting unless the card is fol- 
lowed by some hearts. It, Family rows. 

COMBINATIONS. 4 aces, death ; 3 aces, dissipation; 2 
aces, enmity. 

4 Kings, honours ; 3 Kings, success in business ; 2 Kings, good 
advice. 

4 Queens, scandal ; 3 Queens, dissipation ; 2 Queens, friendship* 

4 Jacks, contagious diseases; 3 Jacks, idleness ; 2 Jacks, quar 
rels. 



380 (Fortunes,) CONSULTATION. 

4 Tens, disagreeable events ; 3 Tens, change of residence ; 2 
' Tens, loss. 

4 Nines, good actions ; 3 Nines, imprudence ; 2 Nines, money. 

4 Eights, reverses in business or love ; 3 Eights, marriage ; 2 
Eights, trouble. 

4 Sevens, intrigues ; 3 Sevens, pleasure ; 2 Sevens, small affairs 
and gossip. 

THE CONSULTATION. There are several ways of tel- 
ling fortunes, but one example will suffice. The most important 
thing is to know what your client wants to be told, and the next 
is to be sure that she cuts the cards with her left hand. 

The cards are shuffled, presented to be cut, and then counted 
off into sevens, every seventh card being laid face up on the table, 
the six intermediates being placed on the bottom of the pack each 
time. When twelve cards have been obtained in this manner, 
they are laid out in a row, and examined to see if the card repre- 
senting the questioner is among them. If not, they must be 
gathered, shuffled, cut, and dealt again. A married man with 
light hair would be the K, with dark hair, the * K. If he claims 
to be single, the <2 J. If your client is a woman, the <? Q will do 
for blondes, the 4 Q for brunettes. Do not ask if she is married, 
and take no notice of rings. 

Having obtained the necessary twelve cards, the more you know 
about the consultant's history, hopes, and prospects, and the bet- 
ter you can judge her character, „the less attention you need pay to 
the cards, and the more satisfactory the result of the consultation 
will be. It is not necessary to stick too closely to the meanings 
of the cards, nor to their combinations ; the great thing is to tell 
your client what she wants to hear. 

In order to confirm the truth of the pleasing story you have 
built upon the twelve cards, they must be gathered together, 
shuffled, presented to be cut with the left hand, and then divided 
into four packets of three cards each. The first packet is for the 
Person, the second for the House, the third for the Future, and 
the fourth for the Surprise. Each packet is successively turned up, 
and its contents interpreted in connection with the part of the 
questioner's life which it represents. In case there should be 
nothing very surprising in the last pack, it is well to have a few 
generalities on hand, which will be true of a person's future six 
times out of ten. The expert at fortune telling has a stock of 
vague suggestions, supposed to be given by the cards, which are 
so framed as to draw from the client the drift of her hopes and 
fears. The scent once found, most of the fortune telling is in the 
nature of confirming the client's own views of the situation. Never- 
theless, when well done, by a good talker, fortune telling is very 
amusing, especially in a small company. 



(feanking Games.) 381 



BANKING GAMES. 



There are two distinct classes of banking games; those that 
can be played without any apparatus but a pack of cards ajid some 
counters ; and those which require a permanent establishment and 
expensive paraphernalia. Among the first, probably the best 
known banking games are : Vingt-et-un, Baccara, Blind Hookey, 
and Fan Tan, the latter requiring only one card, the face of which 
is never seen. In the second class, which are often called table 
games, probably the best known are : Faro, Keno, Roulette, 
Rouge et Noir, and Chuck Luck. 

Each of these games has a number of offshoots, and the dis- 
tinctions between the original and the variation are sometimes so 
minute as to be hardly worth mentioning. As a matter of ref- 
erence, and for the convenience of those who hear these variations 
spoken of, their names and chief characteristics are here given. 

Banking games, properly so-ftilled, are those in which one 
player is continually opposed to all the others. In round games, 
each player is for himself, but no player is selected for the com- 
mon enemy. In partnership games, the sides are equally divided, 
and any advantage in the deal or lead passes alternately from one 
to the other. In other games, the single player that may be op- 
posed to two or three others usually takes the responsibility upon 
himself, and for one deal only, so that any advantage he may have 
is temporary. In banking games, on the contrary, one player is 
selected as opposed to all others, and the opposition is continual. 
If there is any advantage in being the banker, it is supposed to be 
a permanent one, and if the banker has not been at any special 
expense in securing the advantages of his position he is obliged 
to surrender it from time to time and give other players a chance. 
This is the rule in Vingt-et-un, Baccara, and Blind Hookey. If 
the banker is not changed occasionally, he retains his position on 
account of the expense he has been put to to provide the apparatus 
for the play, as in Faro, Keno, Roulette, and Rouge et Noir. To 
justify this expenditure he must have some permanent advantage, 
and if no such advantage or " percentage " is inherent in the 
principles of the game, any person playing against such a banker 
is probably being cheated. 



382 (Vingt-et-un.) BANKING GAMES. 

At Monte Carlo, everything is perfectly fair and straightforward, 
but no games are played except those in which the percentage in 
favour of the bank is evident, and is openly acknowledged. In 
Faro there is no such advantage, and no honest faro bank can 
live. It is for that reason that the game is not played at Monte 
Carlo, in spite of the many thousands of Americans who have 
begged the management to introduce it. The so-called percentage 
of " splits " at Faro is a mere sham, and any candid dealer will 
admit that they do not pay for the gas. Roulette, Rouge et Noir, 
Keno, and Chuck Luck are all percentage games, although the 
banker in the latter is seldom satisfied with his legitimate gains. 

The peculiarity about all percentage banking games is that no 
system, as a system, will beat them. The mathematical expecta- 
tion of\loss is so nicely adjusted to the probabilities of gain that 
the player must always get just a little the worst of it if he will 
only play long enough. Take any system of martingales, and 
suppose for the sake of illustration that in iooo coups you will win 
1 80 counters. The mathematical expectation of the game is such 
that just about once in a thousand coups your martingale will carry 
you to a point in which you will lose 200 counters, leaving you just 
20 behind on every 1000 if you keep on playing. Every system 
has been carefully investigated, and enormous labour has been 
expended on the compilation of tables recording for a long series 
of time every number rolled at Roulette, and every coup raked in 
at Rouge et Noir, and the result of all systems is found to be the 
same, the bank succeeds in building up its percentage like a coral 
island, while, the player's money disappears like water in the sand. 



VINGT-ET-UN. 

Any number of persons may play Vingt-et-un, and a full pack 
of fifty-two cards is used. The cards have no rank, but a count- 
ing value is attached to each, the ace being reckoned as 1 1 or 1 , at 
the option of the holder, all court cards as 10 each, and the others 
at their face value. 

The cards are thrown round for the first deal, and the first ace 
takes it. The dealer is also the banker. Each player is provided 
with a certain number of counters, usually 25 or 50, and a bet- 
ting limit is agreed on before play begins. The players on the 
dealer's right and left are known as the pone and the eldest hand 
respectively. 

The object of the game is to get as near 21 as possible in the 
total pip value of the cards held. 



DEALING. Vingt-et-un.) 383" 

Stakes. Before the cards are dealt, each playen except the 
dealer places before him the amount he bets upon his chances for 
that deal. This amount may be either at the option of the player r 
within the betting limit, or it may be a fixed sum, such as one 
counter. In one variation each player is allowed to look at the; 
first card dealt him before making his bet, and before receiving a 
second card. When it comes to the dealer's turn, he does not 
stake anything upon his card, but be nas the privilege of calling: 
upon all the others to double tne amount they have placed om 
theirs. Any player refusing to double must pass over to the 
dealer the stake already put up, and stand out of the game for thai 
hand. 

Another variation is to allow i*ny player whose second card is of 
the same denomination as the iirst to separate them, and to place 
upon the second card a ba equal in amount to that upon his first 
card, afterward drawing to each separately, as if they were two 
different hands. 

Dealing. The bets made, the cards are shuffled and pre- 
sented to the pone to be cut ; four must be left in each packet. 
Two cards are given to each player, including the dealer,- one at a 
time in two rounds. If the dealer gives too many cards to any 
player, either in the first deal or in the draw, he must correct the 
error at once. If the player has seen the superfluous card he may 
keep any two he chooses of those dealt him. If the dealer gives 
himself too many he must keep them all. The last card in the 
pack must not be dealt. If there are not enough cards to supply 
the players, the discards must be gathered up, shuffled together, 
and cut. 

Naturals. The cards all dealt, the dealer first examines his 
hand. If he has exactly 21, an Ace and a tenth card, which is 
called a natural, he shows it at once, and the players must pay 
him twice the amount they have staked in front of them, unless 
they also have a natural, when it is a stand-off. If the dealer has 
not a natural, each player in turn, beginning with the eldest hand, 
examines his two cards to see how nearly their total value ap- 
proaches 21. If he has a natural, he exposes it immediately, and 
the dealer must pay him double the amount staked. It is some- 
times the rule for the holder of a natural, the dealer having none, 
to take the stakes of all the other players ; but this variation is not 
in favour. 

Drawing. No natural being shown, each player in turn may 
draw another card, or stand on the two dealt him, which are not 
shown under any circumstances. If he is content, he says : " I 
stand." If he wants a card he says : " One," and the dealer gives 
it to him, face up. If the pips on the card drawn, added to those 



384 (Vingt-et-tm.) DRAWING. 

already in his hand, make his total greater than 21, he is creve, and 
passes over to the dealer his stake, throwing his cards in the centre 
of the table, still face down. If the total is not 21, he may draw an- 
other card, and so on until he is creve or stands. The first player 
disposed of in this manner, the dealer goes on to the next one, and 
so on until he comes to himself. He turns his two cards face up- 
ward, and draws or stands to suit himself. If he overdraws, all 
the other players expose their first two cards to show that they 
have 21 or less, and he then pays each of them the amount they 
have staked. If he stands, either before or after drawing, the others 
expose their cards in the same way, and those that have the same 
number are tied, and win "or lose nothing. Those who have less 
than the dealer lose their stake ; those that have more than the 
dealer, but still not more than 21, he must pay. When the result 
is a tie, it is called paying in cards. 

The Banker. The banker for the next deal may be decided 
upon in various ways. The old rule was for one player to con- 
tinue to act as banker and to deal the cards until one of his adver- 
saries held a natural, the dealer having none to offset it. When 
this occurred, the player who held the natural took the bank and 
the deal until some one else held a natural. Another way was to 
agree upon a certain number of rounds for a banker, after which 
the privilege was drawn for again. Another was for one player to 
remain the banker until he had lost or won a certain amount, when 
the privilege was drawn for again. The modern practice is for 
each player to be the banker in turn, the deal passing in regular 
rotation to the left. When this is done there must be a penalty 
for dealing twice in succession, and it is usually fixed at having to 
pay ties, if the error is not discovered until one player has drawn 
cards. If before that, it is a misdeal. 

Pools. Vingt-et-un is sometimes played with a pool. Each 
player contributes one counter at the start, and the pool is after- 
ward fed by penalties. Every player who is creve puts in a coun- 
ter ; all ties with the dealer pay one, and the dealer pays one for 
any irregularity in dealing. The pool may be kept to pay for re- 
freshments, like the kitty in Poker, or it may be won by the first 
natural shown, as may be agreed. 

Probabilities. The only point in the game is for a player to 
know what hands to stand on, and what to draw to. The dealer 
is guided by the cards dealt to other players, and by what they 
ask for. The other players should stand on 17, but draw on 16. 
In practice it has been found that the odds are about 2 to 1 in 
favour of drawing at 16 ; 3 to 1 for drawing at 15. The rules for 
drawing, etc., are more fully described in connection with the very 
similar game of Baccara. 



(Farmer.) 385 

MACAO. 

In this variety of Vingt-et-un only one card is dealt to each 
player ; court cards and tens count nothing, and the Ace is always 
worth one. The number to be reached is 9, instead of 21, and if 
a player has a 9 natural, he receives from the banker three times 
his stake ; if an 8 natural, he receives double, and for a 7 natural, 
he is paid. If the banker has an equal number of points natural, 
it is a tie ; and if the banker has a 7, 8, or 9 natural he receives 
from each of the others once, tw r ice, or three times the amount of 
their stakes. If none of these naturals are shown, the players 
draw in turn, as at Vingt-et-un, and the dealer receives from those 
who have less points than he, or who are creve, and pays those 
who have more, but have not passed 9. 



FARMER. 

Any number of persons may play. All the 8's and all the 6's 
but the V 6 are discarded from a pack of fifty-two cards. All 
court cards count for 10, the ace for 1, and all others at their face 
value. A pool is then made up by each player contributing one 
counter. This is the farm, and it is# sold to the highest bidder, 
who must put into it the price he pays for it. He then becomes 
the farmer, and deals one card to each player, but takes none him- 
self. 

The object of the players is to get as near 16 as possible, and 
each in turn, beginning on the dealer's left must take at least one 
card. After looking at it he may ask for another, and so on until 
he is creve or stands. Should a player overdraw himself, he says 
nothing about it until all are helped, when the hands are exposed. 
Any player having exactly 16 takes the farm and all its contents. 
If there is more than one 16, that which is made with the assis- 
tance of the V 6 wins, otherwise the one which is made with the 
fewest cards. If this is a tie the eldest hand wins. If no one has 
exactly 16, the farm stays with its original owner deal after deal, 
until exactly 16 is held by some player. 

Whether any one wins the farm or not, when the hands are ex- 
posed all those who have overdrawn must pay to the one who 
owned the farm at the beginning of that deal, as many counters 
as they have points more than 16. These payments do not go into 
the farm, but are clear profits. Those who have less than 16 pay 



386 (Baccara.) FARMER. 

nothing to the farmer ; but the one who is nearest i6 receives a 
counter from each of the others. Ties are decided by the posses- 
sion of the <9 6, or the fewest cards, or the eldest hand, as already 
described. If the farm remains in the same hands, the farmer 
deals again, and collects his profits until he loses his farm. * When 
the farm is won, it is emptied, and re-sold as in the beginning. 



QUINZE. 

This is a form of Vingt-et-un for two players, but the number 
to be reached is 15 instead of 21. Court cards are reckoned as 10, 
and the ace as 1 only. Each player stakes an agreed amount 
every time, and the dealer then gives one card to his adversary 
and one to. himself. The pone may stand on the» first card, or 
draw ; but he does not say anything if he overdraws. The dealer 
then draws or stands, and both show their cards. The one near- 
est to 15 wins ; but if the result is a tie, or if both have overdrawn, 
the stakes are doubled, and another hand is dealt, the deal passing 
from player to player in rotation. 



BACCARA. 

This very popular variation of Vingt-et-un originated in the 
south of France, and came into vogue during the latter part of the 
reign of Louis Philippe. It is neither a recreation nor an intellec- 
tual exercise, but simply a means for the rapid exchange of money, 
well suited to persons of impatient temperament. The word 
" Baccara " is supposed to mean " nothing," or " zero," and is 
applied to the hands in which the total pip value of the cards ends 
with a cypher. 

There are two forms of the game in common use ; Baccara a 
deux tableaux, and Baccara chemin de fer. The first will be first 
described. 

Players, Baccara may be played b, any number of persons 
from three to eleven. Those first in the room have the preference, 
and should immediately inscribe their names. The first eleven 
form the table, and the privilege of being the banker is sold to the 
highest bidder ; that is, to the one that will put up the most 
money to be played for. The remaining ten persons draw for 
choice of seats at the table, the first choice being for the seat im- ! 
mediately on the^right of the banker, then for the first seat on his 



THE PLATERS. (Baccara.) 387 

left. Five players are arranged on each side of the banker in this 
manner, right and left alternately, according to the order of their 
choice. Sometimes an assistant or croupier is seated opposite the 
banker, to watch the bets, gather and shuffle the cards, etc. A 
waste basket is placed in the centre of the table for the reception 
of cards that have been used in play. 

If no one bids for the bank, it must be offered to the first on the 
list of players; if he declines, the next, and soon. The amount 
bid for the bank is placed on the table, and none of it can be with- 
drawn, all winnings being added to it. If no bid is made, the 
banker may place on the table any amount he thinks proper, and 
that amount, or what remains of it after each coup, is the betting 
limit. When the banker loses all he has, the bank is sold to the 
next highest bidder, or offered to the next player on the list. If 
the banker wishes at any time to retire, the person taking his 
place should begin with an amount equal to that then in the bank. 

Counters, Each of the players should be provided with a cer- 
tain number of counters, all of which must be sold and redeemed 
by the banker or his assistant. 

Cards. Three packs of fifty-two cards each are shuffled to- 
gether and used as one. The players shuffle as much as they 
please, the banker last, and the banker then presents them to any 
player he pleases to have them cut. The banker may burn one or 
two cards if he pleases ; that is, turn them face upward on the 
bottom of the pack. 

Object of the v Game. The court cards and Tens count noth- 
ing, but all others, including the Ace, are reckoned at their face 
value. The object is to secure cards whose total pip value will 
most closely approach the number 8 or 9. An 8 made with 
two cards is better than a 9 made with three. 

Stakes. Each player in turn, beginning with the first one on 
the right of the banker, and after him the first one on the left, and 
so on, right and left alternately, can bet any amount he pleases un- 
til the total amount bet equals the capital then in the bank. When 
this amount is reached it is useless to place further bets, as they 
may not be paid. For this reason Baccara is a very slow game 
when there is not much money in the bank. After all the players 
have made what bets they wish, outsiders may place bets on the 
result if they choose to do so. 

Either the players or the gallery may bet on either side of the 
table, which is divided down the middle by a line dividing it into 
two parts, right and left ; hence the name, Baccara a deux tableaux. 
A person wishing to bet on both sides at once places his money 
h cheval ; that is, across the line. If one side wins and the other 
loses, a bet placed in this manner is a stand-off ; if both sides lose, 
the bet is lost, and if both win the bet is won. A common form 



388 (Baccara,) THE STAKES. 

of dishonesty at Baccara, and one for which a distinguished Eng- 
lishman was recently tried, is to place a stake very close to the line, 
and if it is seen that the side on which it is placed has probably 
lost, to push the stake onto the line, so that it may be saved if the 
other side wins. The Englishman in question worked this little 
game on the Prince of Wales for some time before he was 
detected. 

When the banker loses, he pays the players in their order, right 
and left alternately, beginning with those who hold cards, until his 
capital is exhausted. Any further bets are disregarded. If any 
player bets on the opposite side of the table to that on which he is 
seated, his bet is not paid until all five of the players on that side 
have been settled with, because such a bet is regarded as that of 
an outsider, not belonging to that side of the table. If the player 
actually holding cards is not the one nearest the banker, he is still 
the first one to be paid, and then those beyond him in order. For 
instance : The third player holds cards ; after him the fourth and 
fifth are paid, and then the first and second, each alternately with 
a player on the other side of the table. 

Banco. Each player in turn, beginning with the one to whom 
cards will be dealt first, has the right to go banco ; that is, to challenge 
the banker to play for his entire capital at a single coup. Such a 
proposition takes precedence of all others. If the bank loses such a 
coup, it must be put up to the highest bidder again, or offered to 
the next player on the list. If it wins, the same player, or any 
other player, may make a similar offer for the next coup, which 
will now be for double the first amount, of course ; but no player 
is allowed to offer banco more than twice in succession. 

Dealing, The cards cut, the banker takes a convenient num- 
ber of them in his hand, or better, spreads them face downward on 
the table, and slips off the top card, giving it to the player next 
him on the right, face down. The next card he gives to the player 
on his left, and the next to himself. He gives another card to the 
right, to the left, and to himself, and then the players take them up 
and examine them. Ten cards must remain in the stock for the 
last deal. 

Irregularities. After the first card is dealt no bets can be 
made or changed. The cards must be so held that they shall be at 
all times in full view of the players. Any card found faced in the 
pack is thrown in the waste 'basket. Any card once separated 
from the pack must be taken. If neither of the players want it, 
the dealer must take it himself. If the cards are dealt irregularly 
the error may be rectified if they have not been looked at ; but any 
player may amend or withdraw his bet before the cards are seen. - 
If the error is not detected in time, the player who holds cards 
may play the coup or not as he pleases, and all bets on his side of 



IRREGULARITIES. (Baccara.) 389 

the table are bound by his decision. If a player holds one card too 
many, he may refuse the coup, or retain whichever two of the three 
cards he pleases, throwing' the third into the waste basket, not 
showing it. If the banker has too many cards, the players may 
amend their bets, and the banker's cards are then exposed, and the 
one taken from him which will leave him with the smallest point, 
the drawn card being thrown in the waste basket. If the banker 
gives himself two cards while either player has been given one 
only, the player must be given another card, and the banker must 
also take another. If the players have not amended their stake 
before the error was corrected, the first two cards dealt to the 
banker are thrown in the waste basket, and the third is his point 
for that deal. If the banker gives the second card to either 
player before dealing the first to himself, he must give the second 
to the other player also, and then take his own. This single card 
must then be thrown in the waste basket, but the banker may play 
out the hand as if he had two cards which counted 10 or 20 ; that 
is, baccara. 

Showing. If any of the three persons holding cards finds he 
has a point of 8 or 9, it must be shown at once, and the two other 
hands are then exposed. If the banker has 8 or 9, and neither of 
the others has so many, the bank wins everything on the table. 
If either player has more than the banker, all the bets on that side 
of the table must be paid. If either player has as many as the 
banker, all the bets on that side of the table are a stand-off. If 
either player has less than the banker, all the bets on that side of 
the table are lost. If a player wrongly announces 8 or 9, he can- 
not draw cards unless his point was 10 or 20. 

Drawing, If none of the three can show 8 or 9, the banker 
must offer a card to the player on his right. The card must be 
slipped off the pack and offered face down. If the player on the 
right refuses, it is offered to the player on the left, and if he also 
refuses, the banker must take it himself. If the player on the 
right takes it, the player on the left may ask for a card also ; but 
whether he does so or not, the banker is not obliged to draw un- 
less he chooses, after the first card offered has been taken by 
either player. When the card is taken it is turned face up, and 
ieft on the table in front of the person to whom it belongs. Only 
one card may be drawn by any player, and all the hands are then 
exposed. Ties are a stand-off. The banker pays all bets on the 
side that is nearer 9 than himself, and wins all on the side which 
is not so near 9 as himself. The players on the opposite sides of 
the table have nothing to do with each other ; each wins or loses 
with the banker alone. 

It should be observed that if a player had 4 originally, and draws 
a 9, his point is not 13, but 3, because all io's count for nothing. 
There is no such thing as being creve, as at Vingt-et-un. 



390 (Baccara.) GOOD PLAY. 

Irregularities, If the banker gives two cards, face up, to 
the player on his right, the player may retain which he pleases, 
throwing the other into the waste basket. If two cards are given 
to the player on the left, he may select which he pleases, and the 
banker must take the other. 

Order of Playing, The coup finished, and all bets paid, 
the cards which have been used are all thrown into the waste 
basket, and the stakes are placed for the next coup. The banker 
deals again, from the top of the stock, without any further shuf- 
fling or cutting of the cards. If the player on the right won the 
first coup, the banker deals to him again ; but if he lost, the 
banker deals to the next player beyond him ; that is, -the second 
from the banker, on his right. The same with the player on the 
left. If the player on the right or left wins the second coup, the 
cards are dealt to him again for the third coup ; if he loses they 
are dealt to the next player beyond him, and so on, until all five 
players have held cards and have lost a coup, after which the 
banker deals to the one nearest him again. 

It will thus be seen that there are in each coup only two active 
players, and that all stakes made upon the game are made upon 
the result of their hands. 

Suggestions for Playing, In justice to those backing him, 
the player is supposed to draw or not to draw, according to the 
laws of probabilities, which are exactly the same as in Vingt-et-un. 
If he has four points, which would" be 5 below 9, he should draw ; 
just as he would if he had 16 at Vingt-et-un, which would be 5 
below 21. If he has 5 or more, he should stand ; but if he has 5 
exactly it is a matter of judgment, drawing a card being sometimes 
good play, especially if it is likely to lead the banker to overdraw 
himself. In some clubs there is a law that a player must draw if 
his point is less than 5, and must stand if it is more than 5, or he 
must pay a fine. 

As no one is backing the banker, he is at liberty to play as badly 
as he pleases, and he is really the only one that has an opportu- 
nity to exercise any judgment in the matter of drawing. If a player 
refuses a card, the banker may be able to judge whether or not he 
has 6 or 7 by his habit of drawing or not drawing at 5. If he is 
known to be a player who draws at 5, it is useless for the banker 
to stand at 5, unless he thinks he can beat the player on the other 
side of the table, and there is more money on that side. If the 
player demanding a card has been given a 10, the banker should 
stand, even at 3 or 4. If he has been given an ace, the banker 
should stand at 4 ; if a 2 or 3; the banker should stand at 5 ; if the 
player is given a 4, the banker should draw, even if he has 5. If 
a player has drawn a 5, 6 or 7, the banker should draw, even if he 
has 5 or 6. If the player draws an 8 or 9, the banker should stand 
at 4 or 5, sometimes even with 3. 



CHEMIN DE FEB. (Baccara.) 391 

It must be remembered that the banker should have a sharp eye 
to the relative amounts staked on each side of the table, which 
will often decide which player he should try to beat. For exam- 
ple': The banker has^, and the player on his right has drawn a 
10, the one on his left a 7. The banker has an excellent chance to 
win all the bets on the right, and should have a certainty of 
standing off with them, and unless those on the left very much ex- 
ceeded them, the banker would be very foolish to risk losing every- 
thing by drawing to 5, simply to beat the player on his left. 

BACCABA CHEMIN DE FEB. In„ this variation, 
each player in turn on the left becomes the banker, taking the deal 
as soon as the first banker loses a coup. The banker gives cards 
only to the player on his right, and to himself. If this player will 
not go banco, each of the others in order beyond him may do so. If 
no one goes banco, each player in turn to the right makes what 
bets he pleases, within the limit of the bank's capital. If the 
banker wins the coup, he deals again, and so on until he loses, 
when the deal passes to the player on his left. The banker, after 
winning a coup, may pass the deal to the player on his right, if he 
chooses to do so, provided that player will put up an amount 
equal to that then in the bank. When this player loses a coup, 
the bank must go to the player to whom it would have gone in 
regular order ; that is, the one on the left of the player who trans- 
ferred his privilege. 

Six packs of cards are generally used in Chemin de Fer, and the 
cards are placed in a wooden box, from which each dealer takes 
as many as he wants. 

CHEATING, Baccara is honeycombed with trickery. Dis- 
honest players, in collusion with the banker, have certain means of 
informing him of their point, so that he may win all the money 
staked upon that side of the table by the other players. This may 
be done in many ways. The player may ask the one sitting next 
him whether or not he should draw, which shows that he has 5. 
Or he may make a movement as if to expose his first two cards, and 
then correct himself. This shows the banker that the player has 
baccara, and is pretending that he thought he had 9. In addition 
to this system of communication, which Parisians call tiquer, 
marked cards, second dealing, and prepared stocks which can be 
palmed on the true cards, or substituted therefor, are all in com- 
mon use. If Baccara is honestly played it is one of the fairest of 
all banking games, but the opportunities for cheating are so many 
and so easily availed of, and the money to be won and lost is so 
great, especially at Chemin de Fer, that few who know anything of 
cheating at cards can resist the temptation to practice it at Bac- 



392 (Blind Hookey.) BACCARA. 

The Laws of Baccara are very long and complicated. As no 
official code exists, and as each gambling club makes its own house 
rules, it is not necessary to give them here, the directions con- 
tained in the foregoing description being sufficient for any hon- 
est game. 

Text Books. The following will be found useful : — 
Theorie Mathematique du Baccara, by Dormoy. 
Baccara Experimental, by Billard. 
Traite Theorique et Pratique Baccara, by Laun. 
Westminster Papers > Vols. X. and XI. 



BLIND HOOKEY. 

This game is sometimes called Dutch Bank. Any number of 
persons may play, and a full pack of fifty-two cards is used. The 
cards rank from the A K Q down to the deuce. Any player may 
shuffle, the dealer last. The pack is' then cut, and the re-united 
parts are placed in the centre of the table. The players then cut 
it into several packets, none less than four cards, all of which 
remain on the table face down. Some player then pushes one of 
the packets toward the dealer, and bets are then made on the 
others. Any player, except the dealer, can bet what he pleases on 
any packet. 

After all the bets are made all the packets, including the dealer's, 
are turned face up, exposing the bottom card of each. Any 
packet disclosing a card lower than the dealer's loses all bets 
placed upon it. Any ^ packet showing a card better than the 
dealer's wins from him. The dealer takes all ties. The deal 
then passes to the next player on the left. Sometimes only three 
packets are cut, one of which is pushed to the dealer. 

This game is a great favourite with card-sharpers, especially on 
ocean steamers. They use packs in which the cards are trimmed 
long and short, so that a confederate may cut them by the ends or 
by the sides for high or low cards, afterward pushing one of the 
high cuts toward the dealer. 



(Fan Tan.) 393 



CHINESE FAN TAN. 



This is apparently the fairest of all banking games, there being 
absolutely no percentage in favour of the banker except that the 
players have to do the guessing. 

The one who is willing to put up the largest amount of money 
to be played for is usually selected as the banker. He is provided 
with a large bowlful, of beans, counters, buttons, small coins, or 
some objects of which a large number of similar size and shape 
can be easily obtained. An oblong card is placed in the centre of 
the table, and the players stake their money upon its corners or 
upon its edges. These corners are supposed to be numbered in 
rotation from i to 4, the figure 1 being on the right of the banker. 

A bet placed „on any of the corners takes in the number it is 
placed upon and the next higher also ; so that a bet upon the cor- 
ner 1 would be upon the numbers 1 and 2 ; upon 2 it would be 
upon 2 and 3 ; and upon 4 it would be upon 4 and 1. 




In the illustration the bet would be upon 2 and 3. 
If the bet is placed upon the edge of the card, it takes in the 
next higher number only. 




In the illustration the bet is upon the number 2, and no other. 

After all the bets have been placed, the banker takes a large 
handful of the beans or counters from the bowl, and places them 
on the table, counting them off rapidly into fours. The number 
of odd counters remaining decides which number wins ; if none 
remain, 4 wins. If there were 2 or 3 counters over, .the banker 
would pay all bets on the corners 1 and 2, even money. If there 
were 2 over, he would pay all bets on the edge of the card be- 
tween 1 and 2 at the rate of three for one, and so on. The coun- 
ters are then returned to the bowl, and bets are placed for another 
coup. 

Sometimes the banker will draw a handful of beans from the 
bowl and place them upon the table, covering them with a saucer 
or with his cap. He then bets any player that there will be 1, 2, 



,394 (Faro.) 



FAN TAN. 



3, 'or 4 left, the player taking his choice, and being paid three for 
one if he guesses correctly. 

In spite of the fact that this game is apparently perfectly fair 
for all concerned, the author has never seen an American who 
could win anything at it while a Chinaman was the banker. 



FARO. 

This is one of the oldest banking games, and is supposed to be 
of Italian origin. It belongs to the same family as Lansquenet, 
Florentini, and Monte Bank. Under the name of Pharaon, it was 
in great favour during the reign of Louis XIV., and came to 
America by way of New Orleans. As originally played, the dealer 
held the cards in his left hand, and any bets once put down could 
not again be taken up until they were decided. In addition to 
splits, the dealer took hockelty. 

As now played, Faro requires extensive and costly apparatus, 
the engraved counters used being often worth more than their 
playing value. U* * 

A full pack of fifty-two cards is shuffled and cut by the dealer, 
and then placed face upward in a dealing box, the top of which is 
open. The cards are drawn from this box in couples, by pushing 
them one at a time through a slit in the side. As the cards are 
withdrawn in this manner a spring pushes the remainder of the 
pack upward. The first card in sight at the beginning of each 
deal is called soda, and the last card left in the box is in hoc. 

The first card withdrawn is placed about six inches from the 
box, and the second is laid close to the box itself. 



3rai- 



Every two cards withdrawn in this manner are called a turn? 
and there are twenty-five turns in each deal, Soda and Hoc being 
dead cards. In making the first turn, the Soda begins the pile 
farther from the box, and the next card taken out is called a 
loser, which is placed close to the box. The card left face up- 
ward in the box is the winner for that turn, so that there must 
be a winner and a loser for every turn ; the loser outside the box, 
and the winner left in it. On the next and all following turns, the 



THE LAYOUT. 



(Faro.) 395 



winning card on the previous turn will be placed on the same pile 
as the Soda, so that it shall be possible at any time to decide which 
cards have won, and which have lost. 

The Object of the Game is for the players to guess whether 
the various cards on which they place their money will win or 
lose. They are at liberty to select any card they please, from the 
ace to the King, and to bet any amount within the established 
limit of the bank. 

The Layout, All bets are made with counters of various 
colors and values, which are sold to the players by the dealer, and 
may be redeemed at any time. These counters are placed on the 
layout, which is a complete suit of spades, enamelled on green 
cloth, sufficient space being left between the cards for the players 
to place their bets. The ace is on the dealer's left. 







4 4 

4 * 
♦ 4 


4 4 
4 4 


4 4 
♦ 4 


V 

* 4 

♦ 4 










V 

4 4 

4% 


♦ 4 
4 A 4 
4*4 

4 4 


4*4 

*4* 
4*4 








The're are a great many ways of placing bets at Faro. For in- 
stance : A player may make bets covering twenty-one different 
combinations of cards, all of which would play the Ten to win, as 
follows : — 






4 4 
4 

4 4 




4 4 
4 4 


i 
1 


O I 

18 
4 i 


2 

3 
5 


4 4 

*A* 
4*4 

4 4 


2 

8 


4 A 4 
4*4 

*4* 
4*4 



3 
16 17 



H 




396 (Faro.) PLACING BETS. 

If the first bet is supposed to be flat upon the Ten itself, 2, 3 
and 4 would take in the card next the Ten ; 5 the cards on each 
side with the Ten ; 6 and 7 the three cards behind which the bets 
are placed, the Ten being one in each instance ; 8 and 9 take in 
the Ten and the card one remove from it in either direction ; 10 
and 11 are the same thing, but placed on the other card ; 12 to 17 
inclusive take in the various triangles of which the bet is the mid- 
dle card ; 18 and 19 take in the four cards surrounding them ; 20 
and 21 are heeled bets, the bottom counter being flat on the cor- 
ner oil the card, and the remainder being tilted over toward the 
card diagonally across from the one on which the bet is placed, 
playing both cards to win. In addition to these twenty-one bets, 
others might be made by heeling bets that would take certain 
cards to lose, and the Ten to win. Bets may also be strung be- 
hind odd or even cards on the side next the dealer. These show 
that the player bets the next case card that comes will win if it 
is an even card, and lose if it is odd ; that is, if he places his string 
behind an even card. 

If the player thinks a card will win, he bets it open, that is, with 
nothing but his counters. If he wants to play a card to lose, Jhe 
coppers it, by placing a checker or button on his chips. If a 
player wishes to reach two cards widely separated, such as the 
deuce and Seven, and has not money enough to bet on both ; he 
can ask the dealer for a marker, which is a flat oblong piece of 
ivory. This is placed on the card to be played with the same 
money, and the dealer, may either trust his memory for the bet, or 
place another marker on it. 

After the dealer has waved his hand preparatory to pushing the 
top card from .the box, no bet can be made or changed. After 
the turn is made, the dealer first picks up all the bets he wins, and 
then pays all he loses, after which he waits for the players to re- 
arrange their bets for the next turn. Between each turn a player 
may make any change he pleases. A lookout sits on the right 01 
the dealer to see that he pays and takes correctly, and to watch 
that no bets are changed, or coppers slipped off, during the turn. 

Splits, If two cards of the same denomination win and lose 
on the same turn, it is a split, and the dealer takes half the bets 
on the split card, no matter whether it is bet to win or lose. Splits 
should come about three times in two deals if the cards are hon- 
estly dealt. 

Keeping Cases. As the cards are withdrawn from the box 
they are marked on a case-keeper, which is a suit of thirteen cards, 
with four buttons running on a steel rod opposite each of them. 
As the cards come out, these buttons are pushed along, so that 
the player may know how many of each card are still to come, and 
what cards are left in for the last turn. In brace games, when 



TABS AND SYSTEMS. (Faro.) 397 

the cards are pulled out two at a time to change the run of them, 
the case- keeper is always a confederate of the dealer, and is sig- 
nalled what cards have been pulled out under the cards shown, so 
that he can secretly mark them up. A bet placed or left upon a 
card of which none are left in the box is called a sleeper ; and is 
public property ; the first man that can get his hands on it keeps it. 

When only one card of any denomination is in the box, it is 
obvious that such a card cannot be split, and that the bank has no 
advantage of the player. Such cards are called cases, and the 
betting limit on cases is only half the amount allowed on other 
cards. It is not considered comme z'lfaut for a player to wait for 
cases, and those who play regularly usually make a number of 
small bets during the early part of the deal, and then bet high on 
the cases as they come along. A player who goes upon the prin- 
ciple that the dealer can cheat those who bet high, and who follows 
and goes against the big bets with small ones, or who plays one- 
chip bets all over the board, hoping to strike a good spot to fish 
on, is called a piker ; and when a game runs small this way, the 
dealers call it a piking game. 

Keeping Tab. In addition to the case-keeper, score sheets 
are provided on which the players may keep a record of what 
cards win and lose on each turn. These tabs are printed in ver- 
tical columns, about five deals to a sheet. A dot indicates the 
soda card ; a dash, hoc. All winners are marked with a down 
stroke, and all losers with a cypher. The diagram in the margin 
will give a very good idea of a faro tab for a com- 
A o o i o Pl ete deal. T ^ e Q ueen was soda, the Five split 

2 o i i i out ' anc * tne Eight was in hoc. 

3 o o i i Systems. On the manner in which the cards 

4 iooo will go, a great many systems of play are based. 

5 o o X There are sixteen different ways for a card to 

6 i i i i " play," which are simply the permutations of the 

7 oiio stroke and the cypher arranged in rows of four at 

8 i i o - a time. If a player is betting three on a side, 

9 o i o i he will take each card as it becomes a case, and 
io o o o o bet that it either wins three times and loses once, 

J I i i o or loses once and wins three times. In the fore- 
Q . o i o going deal he would have bet on the A 3 4 6 9 J 
K 1 o 1 1 to lose on the fourth card out of the box, and 
would have bet on the case cards of the 2 7 8 10 
Q K to win. The Soda, it must be remembered, is really a win- 
ning card. Of these bets he would have won 5 out of twelve, 
taking back his money on the 8, as that card was left in hoc. 
Playing break even, these bets would have been exactly reversed, 
as all the cards would have played either to win and lose an equal 
number of times, or to win or lose out; that is, to do the same 
thing all four times. 



398 (Faro.) CALLING THE TURN. 

Another favourite system is colours. The player takes some 
definite card, such as the soda, or the first winner or loser, as his 
starter, and whatever the colour of the third card of each denomi- 
nation, that is, the card that makes it a case, he plays it to win or 
lose, according to the system of colours he is playing. Many 
players reverse on the last turn. 

When a player bets one card to lose and another to win, and 
loses both bets on the same turn, he is whipsawed. 

The Last Turn. If three different cards are left in for the 
last turn, the players can call the turn, naming the order in which 
they think the cards will be found. Suppose the three cards left 
in the box are the 982, these may come in six different ways : — 

982 928 892 829 298 289 

The odds against any one of these ways are 5 to I ; but the 
dealer pays 4 for 1 only. In calling the turn, the bet is strung from 
the selected loser to the selected winner. If the third card inter- 
venes, the bet is strung away from it, to show that it goes round 
the layout to the other card. 

If there are two cards of the same denomination in the last turn, 
it is called a cat-hop ; and as it can come only three ways, the 
dealer pays 2 for 1. Suppose the cards are 885, they can 
come : — 

885 858 588 

If three cards of the same denomination are left, the call is by 
the colour, and is paid 2 for 1. Suppose two black and one red 
card are left. These may come : — 

BBR.BRB RBB 

The bets are placed on the dealer's right for red first ; on his 
left for black and red, and in front of him for two blacks. 

CHEATING. If Faro were honestly played, it would be ohe 
of the prettiest banking games in the world ; but unfortunately the 
money to be made at this game is so great that the richest prizes 
in the gambling world are offered to the men who can so handle 
the cards as to " protect the money of the house." All systems are 
not only worthless, but dangerous to use, when opposed to the skill 
of the modern faro dealer. A first-class " mechanic " can get 
from one to two hundred dollars a week, and a percentage of the 
profits ; but it is hardly necessary to say that he is not paid that 
amount simply for pulling cards out of a box. Before venturing to 
" buck the tiger " get some one to show you how fifty-three cards 
are shuffled up, so as to make the last turn £ome the way that 



FARO. (Rouge et Noir.) 399 

there is most money in it for the house. Watch the movements 
carefully, so that you will know them the next time you see them 
in a fashionable house, which you imagine to be " dead square." 
If you see a dealer with a shuffling board as thick as his dealing 
box, don't play against that game. If you see a dealer take up 
the cards already taken from the box, slipping them one under 
the other, as if to straighten them up, the sooner you cash your 
chips the better, for you are up against a brace game, no matter 
where it is dealt. 

The proprietors of some fashionable " clubs," especially at water- 
ing places, pretend to be above all such things as cheating at faro, 
and get indignant at the suggestion of the possibility of there be- 
ing anything crooked in their establishments. The author has but 
one reply to all such. If it is true that there is nothing unfair in 
your game, let me put a type-writer girl in the dealer's place to 
shuffle and pull out the cards, and let your men just see to paying 
and taking bets. 

The boast of all these fashionable gambling houses is that they 
never won a man's money except in a square game. Strange to 
say, this is generally true, and the explanation is very simple. If 
you are losing there is no necessity to cheat you, so you lose your 
money in a square game. If you are winning, it is the bank's 
money, and not yours, that they would win if they started to cheat 
you ; and as the dealer is paid to " protect the money of the house," 
as they call it, he is perfectly justified in throwing the harpoon 
into you for a few deals, just to get his own money back ; but he 
is very careful not to cheat you out of any of your own money. 
You may lose if you like, but you cannot win ; faro banks are not 
run that way. 



ROUGE ET NOIR, 

OR TRENT^ET-QUARANTE. 

The banker and his assistant, called the croupier, sit opposite 
each other at the sides of a long table, on each end of which are 
two large diamonds, one red and the other black, separated by a 
square space and a triangle. Any number of persons can play 
against the bank, placing their bets on the colour they select, red 
or black. 

Six packs of fifty-two cards each are shuffled together and used 
as one, the dealer taking a convenient number in his hand for each 
deal. The players having made their bets, and cut the cards, the 
dealer turns one Card face upward on the table in front of him. 



400 (Rouge et Noir.) DEALING. 

at the same time announcing the colour he deals for, which is al- 
ways for black first. The dealer continues to turn up cards one 
by one, announcing their total pip value each time, until he reaches 
or passes 31. Court cards and Tens count 10 each, the ace and all 
others for their face value. Having reached or passed 31 for 
black, the red is dealt for in the same manner, and whichever 
colour most closely approaches 31, wins. Suppose 35 was dealt 
for black, and 38 for red ; black would win. The number dealt 
must never exceed 40. 

The colour of the first card dealt in each coup is noted, and it 
the same colour wins the coup, the banker pays all bets placed on 
the space marked Cotdeur. If the opposite colour wins, he pays 
all bets in the triangle marked Inverse. All bets are paid in 
even money, there being no odds at this game. 

Although black is the first colour dealt for, both it and inverse 
are ignored in the announcement of the result, red and colour 
being the only ones mentioned, win or lose. 

If the same number is reached for both colours, it is called a 
refait, and is announced by the word, " Apres," which means 
that all bets are a stand-off for that coup. If the refait happens 
to be exactly 31, however, the bank wins half the money on the 
table, no matter how it is placed. The players may either pay 
this half at once, or may move their entire stake into the first 
prison, a little square marked out on the table, and belonging to 
the colour they bet upon. If they win the next coup, their stake is 
free; if not, they lose it all. Should a second refait of 31 occur, 
they would have to lose a fourth of this imprisoned stake, and the 
remainder would be moved into a second prison, to await the 
result of the next coup, which would either free it or lose it all. 

Probabilities. It has been found that of the ten numbers 
that can be dealt, 31 to 40, the number 31 will come oftener than 
any other. The proportions are as follow : — 



31-13 times, 
32-12 times, 
33-11 times, 
34-10 times, 
35- 9 times, 



36-8 times, 
37-7 times, 
38-6 times, 
39-5 times, 
40-4 times. 



The 31 refait also comes oftener than any other. Although 
the odds against it are supposed to be 63 to 1, the bankers expect it 
about twice in three deals, and each deal will produce from 28 to 
33 coups. 



(Roulette.) 401 

ROULETTE. 

It is probable that more money has been lost at the wheel than 
at any other gambling game in the world. In conjunction with 
Rouge et Noir, it forms the chief attraction at Monte Carlo, and 
other public gambling casinos. The rage for these games was so 
great, and the trickery connected with them so common, that they 
were banished from France by the law of iS juillet, 1836, and had 
to take refuge in Baden and Homburg. Before that time the 
public revenue from the gaming houses amounted to five or six 
millions a year, all of which was lost by closing them up. The 
evil was not exterminated, however, for there are to-day hundreds 
of gambling hells in Europe, which make up for the brevity of 
their existence by the rapidity with which they fleece their patrons. 

In America, the wheel has always been popular, but Rouge et 
Noir is practically unknown, the reason being that in the latter 
game there is no variety, and therefore no chance for the player to 
exercise any judgment, or to play any " system " in making his 
bets, as he can in Faro. 

The WJieel. The roulette wheel is turned by a small cross- 
bar rising from its axis. The surface of the wheel slopes from the 
axis to the outer edge, which is divided into small square pockets, 
coloured alternately red and black, and each having a number just 
above it, on the surface of the wheel. These numbers may be in 
any order, according to the fancy of the maker of the wheel, and 
they may run from 1 to 27, to 30, to 33, or to 36. In addition to 
the numbers there are zero marks, which are called single and 
double O, and Eagle Bird. All three of these are used in 
American wheels, and they are green, so that they win for neither 
colour. In some of the Europeon wheels there are two zeros, the 
single o being red, and the double o black. The single o also 
counts as " odd," and as below 19 ; while the double o is " even," 
and above 18. Bets on odd or even, above and below, are not 
paid, however, but must remain on the table until the next roll, 
when the player either gets back twice his money or loses it all. 
At Monte Carlo there is only one zero, which is green, and takes 
everything but bets on itself. The numbers on the wheel are ar- 
ranged as follows at Monte Carlo, the heavy type being the 
black: — 

o 32 15 19 4 21 2 25 17 34 6 27 13 36 11 30 8 23 10 5 24 
16 33 1 20 14 31 9 22 18 29 7 28 12 35 3 26. 

The pockets on the edge of the wheel are at the bottom of a 
sort of circular valley, the centre of which is formed by the revolv- 
ing wheel, and the outer slope by a stationary but rising margin or 



402 (Roulette.) 



THE LAYOUT. 



border, at the top of which is an overhanging edge, under which 
the banker spins a small ivory ball, always in the direction opposite 
to that in which the wheel is turning. As the ball loses its 
momentum it strikes some little brass ridges, which cause it to 
jump onto the wheel, and then to run into one of the pockets. 
The number, the colour, odd or even, and whether above or below, 
is immediately announced by the banker, and all bets are taken 
and paid accordingly. 

The Layout, The wheel is sunk in the middle of a long 
table, on each end of which is a layout, and on these layouts all 
bets are placed. The divisions are as follows : — 

The heavy faced type indicates the black numbers: 




















Passe 


I 

4 


2 


3 


Manque 


5 


6 


7^ 


8 


9 


10 


11 


12 


Pair 


13 


14 


15 


Impair 


16 


17 


18 


19 


20 


21 


22 


23 


24 


Noir 


25 


26 


27 


Rouge 


28 


29 


30 


31 


32 


33 


34 


35 


36 


Pi M 

12 12 


D 

12 








P 

12 


M 

12 


D 

12 



Bets may be made on the following chances : 

i. Enplein. Flat upon any number, which pays 35 for I. 
The betting limit at Monte Carlo is 180 francs. 

2. A cheval, on the line between two numbers, which pays 
17 for 1. Betting limit on this chance is 360 francs. 



BETTING. (Roulette.) 403 

3. Un carve, on a cross line, taking in four numbers. This 
pays 8 for 1. Limit is 750 francs. 

4. Transversale, at the end of any three numbers, and tak- 
ing them in horizontally. Pays 11 for 1. Limit is 560 francs. 

5. Transversale Six, placed on the line at the end, taking 
in the three numbers horizontally above and below. This pays 5 
for 1. Limit is 1,200 francs. 

6. Pas. At the bottom of any of the three vertical columns, 
taking in the twelve numbers. This pays 2 for 1. Limit is 
3,000 francs. 

7. Pas a cheval, between any two of these columns. This 
pays y 2 for 1. Limit is 3,000 francs. 

8. Premier, Milieu, Dernier. Bets placed in the spaces 
marked P 12, M 12, and D 12, are upon the first, middle and last 
twelve numbers ; that is, from 1 to 12, 13 to 24, and 25 to 36 re- 
spectively. This pays 2 for 1. Limit is 3,000 francs. 

A cheval between any two of the last mentioned, pays x /2 for 1. 
In addition to the foregoing, all the following chances may be 
bet upon. They all pay even money'. The limit is 6,000 francs. 
9. Impair, That the number will be odd. 

10. Pair. That the number will be even. 

11. Manque* That the number will be from I to 18. 

12. Passe. That the number will be from 19 to 36. 

13. Rouge or Noir. Red or Black. 

The foregoing are the payments at Monte Carlo; but wheels 
with less numbers are scaled down accordingly. The players can 
bet on the zero if they choose, and they will be paid if it comes 
tip, 35 for 1, but all other bets are lost. In wheels with two 
zeros, red and black, the bank wins on the colour which does 
not come, and the bets on the right colour are neither paid nor 
taken, but must remain until the next turn of the wheel. This 
is- now the practice at Monte Carlo, with the single-zero wheels. 

Systems. As at Faro, gamblers at Roulette are never tired of 
devising systems to beat the game; but none of them are of any 
further use than to afford a little passing amusement to their in- 
ventors. Persons who are interested in systems will find in the 
New York Sun, July 5, 1896, a very interesting tabulation of every 
roll of the ball at Monte Carlo for seven successive days, 4,012 in 
all, of which 120 were zeros. If they can find a system that will 
beat the wheel for seven days, and have a return ticket, Monte 
Carlo will take care of all their spare cash. 

One curious fallacy about some systems is to imagine that they 
will win if the player will quit when he is a certain amount ahead, 
and not play again until next day. Until some rule can be given 
by which the exact hour can be fixed to begin play, all such sys- 



404 (Keno.) ROULETTE. 

terns must be delusions, as there is no reason why a second man 
should not begin where the first left off, and therefore no reason 
why the first should not continue playing all the time. 

It is in the interest of the proprietors of all gambling houses to 
pretend to be afraid of systems. The word is passed round, and 
the deluded gamesters think they have found the thread which has 
held the sword of Damocles above the banker's head so long. 
As a matter of fact, there is no one so welcome at a gambling 
house as a player with a system. A man may be fortunate enough 
for a long time to guess right oftener than he will guess wrong, 
and a lucky man in good guessing form is a very dangerous cus- 
tomer, that no cold deck will beat ; but a man with a system sur- 
renders to a double foe ; the inevitable percentage of the game, 
and the skill of the banker, who can beat any system if the player 
will only promise to stick to it. 



CHUCK-LUCK. 

This game is sometimes called Sweat, and again, but erron- 
eously. Hazard. It is played with three dice, which are usually 
thrown down a funnel in which several cross-bars are placed. The 
player is offered five different forms of betting, all of which appear 
on the Layout, and which cover all the combinations possible 
with three dice. 



Single Numbers. 



1 ! 2 | 3 ! 4 I 5 | H 



18 | 1?| 16| 15 | 14| 13 1 12 1 11 i 10| 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 1 3 



180 j 6o | 29 | 18 I 12 | 8 I 6 [ 6| 6 | 6 | 8 | 12 1 18 | 29 | 60 | 180 



112|3|41516 



The Raffles are sometimes indicated by a representation of one 
face of a die. Bets on single numbers pay even money, if the 



CHUCK-LUCK. 

number bet on comes up on the face of any of thv 
it comes up on two of them, such as two deuces, 
but if all three dice are alike it is a raffle, and the i 
bets not placed on raffles. Bets on the numbers fro 
upon the total count of the pips on the upper faces 
dice. The small figures under these numbers show the 
14, for instance, pays twelve for one. All raffles pay 18 
the same as 18 or 3. 

Bets on High and Low, Odd or Even, pay even money 
throws are all above 10, and low throws are all below 11. 
would be perfectly even betting if the house did not take t 
Some houses allow a player to bet on raffles generally; th 
to bet that a raffle of some kind will come. Such bets are pail 
for 1. 

The percentage of the house, even in a square game, may v 
seen from the following table, which gives the odds against th. 
event, and the odds which the house pays : — 

The odds against 3 or 18 are 215 to 1 ; the house pays 180 

" *• 60 

« " 29 

« 18 

M «« g 

6 
•« 6 

Cheating. There are endless ways of swindling at Chuck- 
luck, the most modern being to turn the dice over after they have 
reached the table through the funnel. This is done by an appara- 
tus under the cloth, the dealer looking down the funnel to see how 
the dice lie, and then adjusting them to suit himself. Another 
method is to hold out one die, throwing only* two down the funnel, 
and slipping the third down the outside, turning it so that when it 
is combined with the two already in the funnel it will beat the big 
bets on the layout. Raffles can be forced in this way whenever the 
two dice in the funnel are paired. 



4 " 


17 " 


71 ' 


' 1 


5" 


16 '« 


35 ' 


' 1 


6" 


15 " 


2C£ ' 


* 1 


7" 


14 " 


13* ' 


' 1 


8" 


13 " 


9*' 


' 1 


9" 


12 " 


7i' 


1 1 


10 " 


11 " 


7 ■ 


' 1 



RONDEAU. 

This game is played on a pocket billiard table. The banker asks 
for bets on the inside and outside, and the amounts staked on 
each side must balance. So long as they do not balance, the banker 
must ask for what he wants : " Give me fourteen dollars on the 
outside to make the game," etc. As soon as the amounts balance, 
and no more bets are offered, he says : " Roll. The game is 
made." 



MONTE BANK. 

oout a foot long, is placed behind nine small 

person may roll. He takes his stand at one cor- 

id rolls the balls across the table to the pocket 

/te him. At least one ball must go into the pocket 

/e left out, or they must be rolled over again. The 

,lls left outside the pocket, odd or even, decides 

nside or the outside bets win ; and after the banker 

d his ten per cent, the players who have backed the 

ie get their money. 



MONTE BANK. 

; money staked by the banker is piled upon the table, so that 
ayers may see what is to be won. The banker takes a Span- 
pack of forty cards, shuffles them, and offers them to the players 
be cut. Holding the pack face down, the banker draws two 
irds from the bottom and places them on the table, face up, for 
he " bottom layout." He then iraws two cards from the top of 
the pack for the " top layout." 

The players can bet on either layout, and after all the bets are 
placed the' pack is turned face up. The card that shows is called 
the " gate." If it is of the same suit as either of the cards in the 
top layout, the banker pays all bets on that layout. If there is a 
card of the same suit as the gate in the bottom layout, the banker 
pays that also. If there is no card of the same suit as the gate in 
either of the layouts, the banker wins from that layout ; so that he 
may win or lose from either or both on the same gate. 

The pack is then turned face down, the gate is drawn off and 
thrown aside and two fresh layouts are made, as before and the 
bets placed before the new gate is shown. This is continued until 
the pack is exhausted. 

THREE-CARD MONTE. 

This is a purel|xga|5blteg ^am|, teiijefly useful for separating 
fools from their mJpey.^TWs dealer takes three cards, slightly bent 
lengthwise, so as to be more easily picked up by the ends. One of 
these is shown, and the players are told to watch it. After a few 
skilful passes, the three cards come to rest on the layout, and the 
players are asked to bet that they can pick out the card shown. 

If the dealer will lay two to one, it is a fair gamble ; but if he lays 
even money only, the player is betting two to one against himself. 
There are endless ways of pretending to mark the shown card, so 
that it may be known by the back ; but the dealer or his confed- 
erate always knows that this is done, and the mark is shifted during 
the passes. 














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